tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25322369564817127232024-03-14T08:20:45.278-07:00Film Review-Hollywood Film BlogHollywood free film and video reviews, Next Film reviews, Best Film, Download Latest Hollywood Film, Earn Money By reviewsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger594125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2532236956481712723.post-21287177395036252332011-06-23T21:37:00.000-07:002011-07-05T11:20:32.721-07:00CARS 2: The Film Babble Blog Review<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1216475/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large;">CARS 2</span></a><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">(Dirs. John Lasseter & Brad Lewis, 2011)</span></b></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBKEm5lJET2pi1cxzaJHrEEn1svJO7uyIpt75DJ35OElG6eAqBzVhiq_JvdWQM2aUxjlgSo1QoGKsBXBhAglwUBRuylmYA-IBlnTMKWcXJtT5TKPMRJ0XApNVkiBoAjbXU16VLgomvgO4/s1600/cars-2-mcqueen-mater.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBKEm5lJET2pi1cxzaJHrEEn1svJO7uyIpt75DJ35OElG6eAqBzVhiq_JvdWQM2aUxjlgSo1QoGKsBXBhAglwUBRuylmYA-IBlnTMKWcXJtT5TKPMRJ0XApNVkiBoAjbXU16VLgomvgO4/s400/cars-2-mcqueen-mater.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">CARS and it's new sequel opening today, CARS 2, are the most commercial and formulaic films of all the Pixar productions. But that doesn't mean that they suck - no, they are both fairly entertaining animated kids flicks. It's just that this new entry in the franchise has a major problem that can be stated simply: too much Larry the Cable Guy.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Way too much.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">As Tow Mater, the rusty redneck tow truck friend to Owen Wilson's Lightning McQueen, Larry the Cable Guy (man, I hate typing that - he'll be LCG from here on) has been promoted to the lead character here. LCG gets mistakenly caught up in a secret spy mission involving Michael Caine as a British agent Aston Martin model (obviously 007-ish), and his partner in espionage Emily Mortimer, also a sleek European car outfitted with snazzy gadgets.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Meanwhile, Wilson is competing with John Turturro as an arrogant Italian race car in the first World Grand Prix to determine the world's fastest car. This takes us to the gorgeously rendered locations of Tokyo, Paris, and London which often distracts from the flimsy predictable plot. Eddie Izzard voices a army green SUV billionaire who's promoting a green gasoline substitute fueling the vehicles in the Grand Prix.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">So Caine and Mortimer with the scrappy help of LCG work to take down the bad guys trying to discredit the threat to traditional gasoline. If you can't guess the identity of the mysterious villain way before it's revealed then you're probably not paying attention. Or Pixar has succeeded in dazzling you enough that you don't care.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">LCG was fine in small doses in the first CARS, but its a major malfunction to make Mater the central dominant character. His one note bucktoothed presence grated on me in every scene, and the tired premise of his dumb luck reeks of comic desperation, which is very surprising in a Pixar film.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">No Pixar palette should ever attempt to balance the likes of Michael Caine and Larry the Cable Guy (felt I should type it out this time).</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">As I said, CARS 2 isn't awful, it's just awfully average for a Pixar film. There are some fun sequences, but after the company's heights of the last several years (RATATOUILLE, WALL-E, UP, TOY STORY 3) this sequel feels like treading water. And with its over abundance of country bumpkin crap via one of the unfunniest and irritating comedians of all time, it barely keeps afloat.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Oh yeah, there is a amusing TOY STORY short called "Hawaiian Vacation" before the movie so that's a definite plus.</span><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span></span><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large;">More later...</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2532236956481712723.post-24235399098984021462011-06-23T20:50:00.000-07:002011-07-05T11:20:32.721-07:00BAD TEACHER: The Film Babble Blog Review<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1284575/"><span style="font-size: x-large;">BAD TEACHER</span></a> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>(Dir. Jake Kasdan, 2011)</b></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjsV9xqDBqiSQVdPBp7EQ_2D4QZBAoqGvHeYxUYVHAG-pK2KWvhs5d1GtZANzoA8rcx8UDlVnuc05reKTADd_PwBGg8wO2q1mkQMX76BoPexC_pOlh2-vydrLrFPFa9vGhKXdZO8HJgwY/s1600/bad-teacher-diaz-timberlake-segel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjsV9xqDBqiSQVdPBp7EQ_2D4QZBAoqGvHeYxUYVHAG-pK2KWvhs5d1GtZANzoA8rcx8UDlVnuc05reKTADd_PwBGg8wO2q1mkQMX76BoPexC_pOlh2-vydrLrFPFa9vGhKXdZO8HJgwY/s400/bad-teacher-diaz-timberlake-segel.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">If you've seen the trailer for this crude Cameron Diaz classroom comedy, you've already witnessed all the best lines and all the relevant plot-points. But since none of that stuff was that great to begin with, it's quite a tiring task to make it through this 90 minute mess of a movie that has maybe 3-4 solid chuckles in it.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Daez plays the foul mouthed, hard drinking, pot smoking, gold digging, and completely immoral title character who gets dumped by her rich boyfriend (Nat Faxon) at the beginning of the movie. She has to return to the job she doesn't give an "F" about, as the movie's tagline goes, teaching at </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;">John Adams Middle </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"><em style="font-style: normal;">School</em></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"> (</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"><em style="font-style: normal;">JAMS</em></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;">).</span></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large; line-height: 15px;">Diaz gets through the day by putting on DVDs for her students of movies about teachers (STAND AND DELIVER, LEAN ON ME, DANGEROUS MINDS, etc.) while she drinks from mini liquor bottles or sleeps at her desk.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large; line-height: 15px;">As the school's gym teacher, a smirking Jason Segel clearly has the hots for Diaz, but she's got her eyes on a Justin Timberlake as a nerdy substitute teacher. Lucy Punch plays a goofy goody two-shoes rival colleague of Diaz's, who is also after Timberlake's affections.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;">The sloppy narrative concerns Diaz trying to raise money for breast implants. That's right, that's the plot. She puts on a sexy car wash complete with a rock video (or beer commercial) style montage. She steals </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">standardized </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em style="font-style: normal;">test answers so her class can get the highest scores and she can receive a large cash reward. She, uh, does wacky corrupt stuff for her own selfish purposes - you got it, right?</em></span></span></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em style="font-style: normal;">Unfortunately, precious little of this is funny. Diaz doesn't really bring anything but the </em></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">bare <em style="font-style: normal;">minimum effort </em></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em style="font-style: normal;">to her role, Timberlake is likable but not believable, and only Segel seems to have the right laid-back approach to this lazy lackluster material.</em></span></span></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em style="font-style: normal;">BAD TEACHER feels like a series of deleted scenes on a lame comedy's DVD special features menu. The kind you watch and think 'I can see why they cut that. Because it didn't work.'</em></span></span></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large; line-height: 15px;"><em style="font-style: normal;">That pretty much sums it up - much like its superficial protagonist, BAD TEACHER rarely works.</em></span><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large; line-height: 15px;"><em style="font-style: normal;"><br /><br /></em></span><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large; line-height: 15px;"><em style="font-style: normal;">More later...</em></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2532236956481712723.post-27876047928782670262011-06-17T11:52:00.000-07:002011-07-05T11:20:32.722-07:00THE TREE OF LIFE: The Film Babble Blog Review<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0478304/"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">THE TREE OF LIFE</span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"> <strong><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Dir. Terrence Malick, 2011)</span></strong></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOLI-jm5aNJDWrbLcQqvO8u2Bo-c0sqc-lenGjf_y3K9sSShxfRtcRceRPwRvneMBxw37lZdd-0stccihmoQ2os7-Ps9QFl9Ez1eCdIgi2gt6h0eqnNqNWM4z0pUb8WKD-JZsl3I2Mrh8/s1600/the-tree-of-life-movie-photo-03-550x297.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOLI-jm5aNJDWrbLcQqvO8u2Bo-c0sqc-lenGjf_y3K9sSShxfRtcRceRPwRvneMBxw37lZdd-0stccihmoQ2os7-Ps9QFl9Ez1eCdIgi2gt6h0eqnNqNWM4z0pUb8WKD-JZsl3I2Mrh8/s400/the-tree-of-life-movie-photo-03-550x297.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">This is sure to be the most debated film of the year.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Just a cursory glance at internet message boards shows that while some people are labeling it “pretentious crap,” another thread of folks are calling it “one of the best movies ever.”</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Consider me in the latter camp.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">For his first film since THE NEW WORLD in 2005, the none-too-prolific Terrace Malick (BADLANDS, THE THIN RED LINE) has made a non-linear epic of incredible photography, lavish reconstructions of astrological history, and classical music.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">It’s an overwhelming work that obviously a lot of people simply won’t get. I myself am still trying to piece it together, but I think I get it. I think.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Through beautifully fleeting imagery, we follow Brad Pitt and Jessica Chastain as the parents of three sons in 1950s Waco, Texas. One of the sons dies, the cause of which is never explained, and the family is in mourning with Chastain asking the Heavens: “Lord, why? Where were you?”</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Malick attempts to answer that question by going back to the beginning of time in a mesmerizing series of shots of thick engulfing clouds, glowing globules of every color, shining light, fire, flowing lava, etc.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">History comes alive via CGI, and we even get to spend a little time with a few dinosaurs.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">The visual thrust of all of this is stupefying; it’s like Malick is actually trying to capture God on film.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">I’m really not sure if he succeeded, but that a film maker would try so hard and in some flashing moments appear to get so close is amazing to behold.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">The timeline catches up with the ‘50s family again, as we see the boy who died being born. A strict disciplinarian, Pitt practices tough love on his boys (Hunter McCraken, Laramie Eppler, and Tye Seridan) while Chastain offers nothing but unconditional motherly love.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">The vivid cinematography by four-time Oscar nominee Emmanuel Lubezki is astounding. Whether it’s exploiting the lush splendor of nature or zeroing in on the characters in emotional despair, the camera is always moving, exploring the space of every frame.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Close-ups are handled in a manner I haven’t seen in a film in ages. Even when the boys join a roving group of trouble making pre-teens, a feeling of isolation around McCracken is felt. His misguided desire to fit in with the window breaking, animal abusing brats is captured in the restless energy of the camerawork.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">As the troubled eldest son Jack, McCracken is arguably the protagonist. His angry brow dominates the screen as he grows to resent his father. It’s a spare yet piercing performance – a noteworthy film debut.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">An older version of Jack is played by Sean Penn, a businessman in the modern world still suffering over the loss of his brother and estranged relationship with his father. Penn’s part is one of the film’s only weaknesses. Penn, who gets more grizzled looking every movie he makes, mainly broods with his presence threatening to stop the film’s immersive flow.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">As the last third becomes engulfed in surrealism, Penn is seen, suited up, wandering around a desert landscape. These images are pretty, but ultimately superfluous.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Many moviegoers (and critics) are going to be baffled by THE TREE OF LIFE. It’s a challenging and dense work that comes off at times like STAND BY ME filtered through the Kubrickian kaleidoscope of the last ten minutes of 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">To me it’s not just a massive breath of fresh air during this sequel saturated summer, it’s a near masterpiece about life, death, the universe and everything.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">In other words, here’s the year’s first major contender for Best Picture at the next Academy Awards.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">More later...</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2532236956481712723.post-34666181574548183672011-06-17T11:37:00.000-07:002011-07-05T11:20:32.722-07:00MR. POPPER'S PENGUINS: The Film Babble Blog Review<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1396218/"><span style="font-size: large;">MR. POPPER'S PENGUINS</span></a> <strong><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Dir. Mark Waters, 2011)</span></strong></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPnfgbVZcvXnYuCNzeoWacKwTO4D5Of9caB3OqGFbvk-V8FEdW1tr0GfOQ4Kgy4LfYKKotzDk5a19HO7QYrxAkZ_TSDLbsnaUlNF-uNfdqsHsZkLNjv_8ZIbbwCHhc_Zu8o6-ZrKowIsY/s1600/MrPopperStill6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPnfgbVZcvXnYuCNzeoWacKwTO4D5Of9caB3OqGFbvk-V8FEdW1tr0GfOQ4Kgy4LfYKKotzDk5a19HO7QYrxAkZ_TSDLbsnaUlNF-uNfdqsHsZkLNjv_8ZIbbwCHhc_Zu8o6-ZrKowIsY/s400/MrPopperStill6.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /><br /></span><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Isn't Jim Carrey too old to be doing this kind of movie?</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">A decade ago it seemed like Carrey was moving towards a more thoughtful phase in his career based on work based on work in such fine films as THE TRUMAN SHOW, MAN ON THE MOON, and ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND. However at the same time the man still had, and still has, a fondness for doing broad commercial crap, which is exactly what MR. POPPER'S PENGUINS is.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">In what must be screenwriting leading man character archetype #1, Carrey plays a divorced corporate big wig, who loves his kids (also still loves his ex-wife), but is too business-minded to be in touch with his soul. So a crate coming from his recently deceased globe-trotting father containing a penguin in it will, of course, melt his cold heart, right?</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Carrey comically protests the penguin and calls everyone he can think of (<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;">Antarctica, animal control, the zoo, etc.), but then another crate containing more penguins arrives, and his kids (Madeline Carroll and Maxwell </span></span></span><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large; line-height: 15px;">Perry Cotton) love them so the put-upon protagonist makes his Park Avenue pad into a winter wonderland.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Carrey's shtick is always giving everybody hip snappy nicknames as he glides though films, so it comes in handy naming the penguins: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Captain, Lovey, Bitey, <em style="font-style: normal;">Nimrod</em>, Stinky and Loudy. The birds can be fun to watch, but as a large percentage of their antics are via CGI it's more and more cringe inducing than cute.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 15px;"> </span></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large; line-height: 15px;">Angela Lansbury is in the thankless role of the potential client Carrey is trying to score for a big real estate deal, and guess what? The penguins get in the way, particularly in a silly set-piece that turns the Guggenheim into a massive seabird slide.</span></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;">That's actually one of the better scenes, as the film is bogged down in </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 15px;">schmaltz and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 15px;">poop jokes. And I mean, a lot of poop jokes. Enough to make the "poop picnic" in JUDY MOODY seem positively understated.</span></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 15px;">Clark Gregg as the movie's villain - a creepy animal control guy who wants to take the penguins for his own supposedly evil purposes is a considerably contrived element, but in this fluffy formula he fits right in. <i>Entourage</i>'s </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Carla Gugino as Carrey's ex-wife basically just shows up on time for her standard issue lines.</span></span></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large; line-height: 15px;">With it's icy subject matter, I wondered why MR. POPPER'S PENGUINS wasn't earmarked for a Christmas season release, but maybe since it's really all about the air-conditioning people seek during the heat of summer, it's probably a great marketing move.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large; line-height: 15px;">Carrey, who's pushing 50, apparently sees himself as a post-modern Don Knotts - that is, a family friendly funny man caught in outlandishly wacky situations - and that's fine, but he's got the chops to shape his career better.</span></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large; line-height: 15px;">This at least proves that he's a good actor, because you've got to have talent to act like bland cash-in kid's crap like this isn't beneath you.</span></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"><br /><br /></span></span><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large; line-height: 15px;">More later... </span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2532236956481712723.post-31663218707428972702011-06-11T13:38:00.000-07:002011-07-05T11:20:32.722-07:00MIDNIGHT IN PARIS: The Film Babble Blog Review<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1605783/"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">MIDNIGHT IN PARIS</span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">(Dir. Woody Allen, 2011)</span></b></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf1YOxtJ-RWs3U6nMp0q2kmEzgf4X8geRp0UV0HUn_H9zm4CtMX-IaXOvpeHm2JjkAV7rqd2ZbVqjy3Ws19YfwECVy82-YtzKjB4uYgMMlgz9nhUKTd28OHDAPWP0qTzTUqZBOhVOwZE0/s1600/1134011_Midnight_in_Paris_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf1YOxtJ-RWs3U6nMp0q2kmEzgf4X8geRp0UV0HUn_H9zm4CtMX-IaXOvpeHm2JjkAV7rqd2ZbVqjy3Ws19YfwECVy82-YtzKjB4uYgMMlgz9nhUKTd28OHDAPWP0qTzTUqZBOhVOwZE0/s400/1134011_Midnight_in_Paris_2.jpg" t8="true" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large; line-height: 15px;">At first glance, Owen Wilson looks like an unlikely Woody Allen surrogate.</span></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large; line-height: 15px;">Yet in Allen's best film since VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA, it's an inspired piece of casting that works. Wilson puts real effort into the character of Gil Pender, a Hollywood hack screenwriter who wants to give real writing a try, and finish that difficult novel he's been tinkering with for months.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large; line-height: 15px;">On vacation in France, Wilson's fiancée (Rachel McAdams) accuses him of romanticizing the past - particularly Paris in the '20s, an era he would most like to live in. Wilson clashes with McAdam's conservative parents (Kurt Fuller and Mimi Kennedy), and her friends including a wonderfully snobby Michael Sheen, so he takes off on a walk around the city taking in the sights.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large; line-height: 15px;">At the chimes of midnight, an old timey car pulls up him, and the drunk passengers plead with him to get in. After some hesitation, he joins them.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large; line-height: 15px;">Somehow this takes him back to, you guessed it (or saw the trailer), Paris in the '20s. It's a rollicking party of an era where everybody he meets is famous figure of the arts. At a party, with piano accompaniment by Cole Porter (Yves Heck) no less, he meets F. Scott Fitzgerald (Tom Hiddleston) and his wife Zelda (Alison Pill).</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large; line-height: 15px;">There's also Corey Stoll as Ernest Hemingway, Kathy Bates as Gertrude Stein, Marcial di Fonzo Bo as Pablo Picasso, and the best one of all: Adrien Brody as Salvador Dali.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large; line-height: 15px;">Wilson meets a fetching model (Marion Cotillard) who he falls for on the spot. So every night back in the present, he makes the excuse to McAdams that he wants to go out on a walk, and goes back to hobnob with history. The predicament of choosing the past over the present becomes a sticky one, as there's the possibility of another love in the form of Lea Seydoux as an antiques dealer "in the now."</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large; line-height: 15px;">There's a wonderful wit and whimsy to how Allen plays this all out. It's his warmest film since, uh, I can't remember when.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large; line-height: 15px;">In other words, it's the most satisfying Woody Allen film in ages.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large; line-height: 15px;">Wilson's delivery of Allen's choice one-liners is infectious, and he quotes from the greats, such as Faulkner's "The past is never dead, It's not even past." convincingly enough to make one forget the man-child of "Hall Pass" from earlier this year.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large; line-height: 15px;">The film is at its most radiant when it's in those sequences set in the past. In a neat little twist, Cotillard dreams of living in the 1890's; turns out everybody has their dream era.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large; line-height: 15px;">One personal thought is that I wish the Woodman would've filmed this in black and white. It's not just because the opening montage of shots of Paris was strongly reminiscent of the opening of MANHATTAN, I feel like B & W would've brought out something more in the photography, the depictions of both present and 20's Paris, and the performances of the people playing historical personalities.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large; line-height: 15px;">As I said that's just a personal quibble. I'm just an aficionado of the man's B & W work so don't mind me.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large; line-height: 15px;">MIDNIGHT IN PARIS isn't gonna to make me rearrange my top 10 Woody Allen movies, but it's a lovely lark that I predict even non-fans would enjoy. I think most people can relate wishing for a simpler more inspiring time to live in, and I think they'll be greatly amused with this simple and inspiring story.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><br /></span><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large; line-height: 15px;">More later... </span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2532236956481712723.post-69845398230205868272011-06-10T14:50:00.000-07:002011-07-05T11:20:32.722-07:00SUPER 8: The Film Babble Blog Review<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1650062/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">SUPER 8</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><b>(Dir. J.J. Abrams, 2011)</b></span></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi44Oqx5_JtQHjvl6r00hTr0PzCtaze6nvnuS5d9d44aRub9zwVuFmvAQtS9YrGS-VyzEHVhLSI-AJdSJzOFNt3XM8kjTeMFDX1KG9TPKMcw_OlvnJfq9tqCqfs4aZe2ziTrY5fhfmz2SI/s1600/0609-movie-super8_full_600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi44Oqx5_JtQHjvl6r00hTr0PzCtaze6nvnuS5d9d44aRub9zwVuFmvAQtS9YrGS-VyzEHVhLSI-AJdSJzOFNt3XM8kjTeMFDX1KG9TPKMcw_OlvnJfq9tqCqfs4aZe2ziTrY5fhfmz2SI/s400/0609-movie-super8_full_600.jpg" width="400" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Having grown up during the golden age of Spielberg (i.e. the late '70s-early '80s) I was immediately in tune with the vibe Abrams was going for here. It helps that mood and tone that SUPER 8 is set in a small mid-western town in 1979, and centers around a group of pre-teen kids.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Joel Courtney, who's never acted in a movie before, stars as a shy model building C-student whose mother is killed in an accident at her factory workplace. His grieving father (Kyle Chandler) is the town's deputy, and for obvious reasons things are strained between father and son.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Courtney's pushy friend (Riley Griffith) is making a super 8 zombie movie, and with a small crew of kids, including fire-works crazy Ryan Lee, klutzy Zach Mills, and geeky Gabriel Basso, they sneak out late one night to work on it.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Griffith invites Elle Fanning to play the lead character's wife, and because she has a car, to the excitement of Courtney who has a crush on her.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">In the middle of filming on the platform of an old rickety train station, a freight train comes nosily down the tracks. Griffiths wants to get it on film citing "production values," but Courtney sees a truck racing towards the train, and then there's a ginormous crash, completely derailing the engine and all the compartments in a series of fiery explosions. The kids escape unharmed, well, one claims he was "scraped", and recognize the driver of the truck as one of their school teachers.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">They frantically leave the area when a bunch of shadowy men with flashlights descend on the wreckage.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">That's the set-up, and it's a great one. From there a entertainingly tangled narrative involving a military cover-up, a budding romance between Courtney and Fanning, and, yes, a mysterious alien creature that was in one of the train's compartments unfolds.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">A wide-eyed sense of wonder coupled with cynicism about government misinformation effectively evokes the atmosphere of CLOSE ENCOUNTERS and E.T., which is no surprise as Spielberg produced, and the film is a collaboration of Amblin Entertainment and Bad Robot Productions.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Like with his STAR TREK reboot, Abrams shows that he has a great grip on face-paced storytelling. As the movie lays out all its alien cards, the proceedings get a bit predictable, but the compelling craft on display never falters.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Abrams also gets the Spielbergian sentimentality down. No other recent sci-fi CGI blockbuster lately has had this much heart.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">It's a promising debut for Courtney, who endearingly captures the awe in this tale of how kids can outsmart the authorities, figure out a complex conspiracy, and help an alien get back home.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">As for the rest of the cast - Fanning brings poise to a standard damsel in distress part, the set of smart- alecky kid are perfectly cast, and Chandler infuses his troubled cop character with intensity.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">However, Noah Emmerich as a U.S. Army representative is standard one note villain. He still kind of fits here because it's a common theme in this genre that the real bad guys are the government powers that be, not the aliens. Sure, there's a lot of killing at the claws of the creature, but that's because of military mistreatment and wrongful imprisonment, you see?</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">With a nice blend of nostalgia, emotional pull, and incredible special effects, SUPER 8 is as touching as it is a lot of fun.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Any be sure to stay for the end credits. I'm not going to tell you why, but trust me - you won't want to miss it.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">More later...</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2532236956481712723.post-34336633053986834482011-06-09T21:01:00.000-07:002011-07-05T11:20:32.722-07:00JUDY MOODY AND THE NOT BUMMER SUMMER: The Film Babble Blog Review<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"></span><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1547230/" style="font-size: x-large;">JUDY MOODY AND THE NOT BUMMER SUMMER</a> <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">(Dir. John Schultz, 2011)</span></b></span><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /><br /></span></b></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Pt6Qn3LbQ9aJZiz7EThCHrfNKqqospekWlrfb68VX8eLxsuq6mTDngShBFXoIRFnLKu3eqfPy1sXu50YM9bc6VZveSswToPGFIuclYkgwFhHRHecqwg_W6UvP6VWDnONUgEiVQl_UnA/s1600/judy-moody-photo-heather-graham-jordana-beatty2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Pt6Qn3LbQ9aJZiz7EThCHrfNKqqospekWlrfb68VX8eLxsuq6mTDngShBFXoIRFnLKu3eqfPy1sXu50YM9bc6VZveSswToPGFIuclYkgwFhHRHecqwg_W6UvP6VWDnONUgEiVQl_UnA/s400/judy-moody-photo-heather-graham-jordana-beatty2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">In 1996 former Raleigh resident, and former member of local favorites the Connells, John Schultz made one of my favorite independent films: <a href="http://filmbabble.blogspot.com/2011/02/1996-raleigh-rock-comedy-bandwagon-now.html">BANDWAGON</a>, about a fictional struggling indie band.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Since then Schultz has been mainly making kids movies like LIKE MIKE, WHEN ZACHARY TAYLOR CAME TO TOWN, and ALIENS IN THE ATTIC.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">That family film streak continues with JUDY MOODY AND THE NOT BUMMER SUMMER, based on Megan McDonald's "Judy Moody" children's book series, which I had never heard of befoer since I'm 41 and don't have any kids.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Okay, so I'm not in the target audience for this movie.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">I'll still proceed - Jordana Beatty plays the precocious title character, who's cute but often hyper-irritating as she bounces from frame to frame , spouting out self consciously hipisms like "rare" in place of "cool," and plotting every activity with charts in a control freak manner that even annoys her close friends.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">After their teacher Urkel (I mean Jaleel White) dismisses class for the summer, 2 of Beatty's friends take off - Taylor Hender to clown camp; Garrett Ryan to circus camp.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Beatty is stuck with the nerdy Preston Bailey who gets in the way of racking up those "thrill-a-delic" points our heroine imposed on her chums.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Then there's Parris Mosteller as Beatty's brother Stink, who wishes to spend the summer tracking down Bigfoot, because reports indicate he's in the area.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Their parents (Kristoffer Winters and Janet Varney) leave for a emergency trip (I can't remember why or where), and Aunt Opal (Heather Graham) arrives to take care of the kids.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Graham is a free-spirited artist (she calls herself a "guerilla artist" but that's hard to believe), and Beatty takes to her immediately.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Beatty's Judy Moody exhausting antics in spastic scenes full of harmless destruction disinterested me to the point of wondering about Graham's character. I kept thinking a dark side that she was running away from would be revealed (addiction, abusive relationship, something sinister), but then I caught myself - what the Hell kind of movie did I think I was watching?</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">This isn't catching up with an aging Roller-Girl! This is a loud and brightly lit kid's romp in which the only thing close to edgy is poop and vomit jokes.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">I really feel out of my element writing about this movie. The kids at the preview screening were howling with laughter, while every tired gag made me roll my eyes. But again, this isn't a movie for me.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">It's a disposable candy wrapper of a movie, that I bet kids will outgrow right after seeing it. Schultz seems to have found his niche making such teenybopper tripe. I'm sure it pays the bills, but when I think back to his promising debut BANDWAGON, it just doesn't seem right.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">At least Connells fans who take their kids to it will enjoy trying to pick out lead singer Doug MacMillon's cameo (MacMillan has appeared in all of Schultz's films).</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">That's all I got out of it anyway.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /><br /></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large;">More later...</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2532236956481712723.post-2099546319261640282011-06-06T14:07:00.000-07:002011-07-05T11:20:32.723-07:00DVD Review: RUBBER<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><a _cke_saved_href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1612774/" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1612774/" style="color: #336699;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">RUBBER</span></a> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>(Dir. Quentin Dupieux, 2010)</b></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXMlY1-WVAULImZcXWO8OW3Ft8Q0zjLnGJB3XbFsi6OgszcePgMX9ULgiSDAyXqQaNV85vbhF7BaH9-M5DaFo1LjBveuuJQEmbVPZlf53s-Xo0WH30Ibh2cgYpq6NvRD6GSqigIZnDAi0/s1600/rubber_quentin_ivu630-thumb-630xauto-30985.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXMlY1-WVAULImZcXWO8OW3Ft8Q0zjLnGJB3XbFsi6OgszcePgMX9ULgiSDAyXqQaNV85vbhF7BaH9-M5DaFo1LjBveuuJQEmbVPZlf53s-Xo0WH30Ibh2cgYpq6NvRD6GSqigIZnDAi0/s400/rubber_quentin_ivu630-thumb-630xauto-30985.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">This film opens in a California desert on a road with wooden chairs strewn about. A car drives up knocking some of the chairs over. It parks in front of a man with a tie (Jack Plotnick) holding groups of binoculars by their straps with both hands.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Another man, dressed as a police officer, gets out of the trunk of the car, gets a glass of water from the driver, and walks towards the camera. The cop, played by Stephen Spinella, addresses the audience: "In the Stephen Spielberg movie E.T. why is the alien brown? No reason."</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Spinella asks several more nonsensical questions about movie premises, like in TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE why don't we see the characters go to the bathroom?," each time concluding "no reason." He states that this film is "a homage to the 'no reason.'" There's no arguing with that.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">We then see a small crowd of people who each are passed the binoculars by Plotnick. The people point their binoculars out into the desert, some wondering out loud about what knid of film they're going to see.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">So far, so weird.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">From a distance the folks watch as a inanimate tire half buried in the sand, comes alive, pulls it self out of the ground and, shakes itself off and rolls down the road.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">That's right - a tire comes alive and heads out over the desert terrain. It figures out that it has the power to blow up bottles and cans, then the heads of animals and on to humans, so it goes on a killing spree starting with the residents of a flea bag hotel.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">There the tire, named "Robert" in the credits, but never said out loud in the movie, watches a lot of TV while the people in the desert sleep and start to starve.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">The next morning Plotnick drops a turkey on the ground and a disgusting scene of the crowd members tearing it apart ensues. A wheelchair bound almost unrecognizable Wings Hauser refrains from eating the turkey which turns out to be a good discussion as its poisoned.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Spinella, thinking the audience is all dead, starts to call off whatever this experiment is, telling people they can go home. When he finds out Hauser is still alive - it's back on. Whatever this is.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Roxane Mesquida also appears as a woman who's either just passing through the area or in cahoots with whoever is running this perplexing project.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">For all its meta posturing, RUBBER feels like an excuse to blow up a bunch of prosthetic heads. There's some gratuitous nudity of Mequida in a shower scene, commented on by the crowd of course, which at least I could see the point of.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">I couldn't see the point of any of the rest, even as an exercise of non-explanation. Dupieux displays a fluid visual style, but its in the service of an unfleshed premise that lacks wit, and relies too much on cheap semantics.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">I wish Dupieux had just stuck to the story of a killer tire and lost all the film-within-a-film rigmarole.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">He could've kept Spinella as the cop on the trail of the tire; it's a role that reminds me of the George Hardy doofus hero character in TROLL 2, a film that oddly has more imagination than this one.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">The answer "No reason" is actually apt here for I have no reason to recommend RUBBER.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Special Features:</strong> Interview with Quentin Dupieux, Interview with Stephen Spinella, Interview with Jack Plotnick, Inteview with Roxane Mequida, RUBBER Teaser Camera Tests, HDNet: A Look at "Rubber", and the Theatrical Trailer.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">More later...</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2532236956481712723.post-52777524831558202492011-06-02T21:56:00.000-07:002011-07-05T11:20:32.723-07:00X-MEN: FIRST CLASS: The Film Babble Blog Review<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1270798/"><span style="font-size: large;">X-MEN: FIRST CLASS</span></a> <strong><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Dir. Matthew Vaughn, 2011)</span></strong></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqYtANONamP4tOmxQvdAS_C1N7grcsdO_EOzhw8pNOCzsMo8h7XOMqedwmagKhAbH4lU-D6BFANBClY18EY91tfSrkLsl7omHLGBsLnvGs-jxL_cvibU-AFOuangtYPfRrGXv78aFh5pA/s1600/x-men-first-class-reviews.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqYtANONamP4tOmxQvdAS_C1N7grcsdO_EOzhw8pNOCzsMo8h7XOMqedwmagKhAbH4lU-D6BFANBClY18EY91tfSrkLsl7omHLGBsLnvGs-jxL_cvibU-AFOuangtYPfRrGXv78aFh5pA/s400/x-men-first-class-reviews.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /><br /></span><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Right off the bat it's clear that Matthew Vaughn is a much better fit for the X-MEN movies than the previous directors (Brett Radner and Gavin Hood respectively). A strong </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">opening </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">sequence set in a concentration camp in Poland in 1944 shows Vaughn getting the edgy tense tone right in introducing a captured kid (Bill Milner) who has untrained telekinetic powers.</span></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">A sinister Kevin Bacon plays German Scientist Sebastian Shaw who recognizes the powers the boy has, and kills his mother (<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;">Éva Magyar)</span> in an successful attempt to unleash them. Meanwhile, a young boy (Laurence Belcher) encounters a young girl (Morgan Lily) who's broken into his Westchester County, NY mansion's kitchen. She can morph her form into anybody's with her true body being all blue and spiky, while he can read people's minds.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">They live together as brother and sister, growing up into James McAvoy and Jennifer Lawrence as the movie shifts to 1962. After witnessing supernatural activity in Las Vegas involving a never aging dapper Bacon and his crystalized co-hort Emma Frost (January Jones), CIA Agent Moira MacTaggart (Rose Byrne) seeks out McAvoy, because of his expertise on mutation.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">So the mutants hook up with the CIA (who take a little convincing), and are stationed in a facility to train under the supervision of Oliver Platt who's never given a character name. The concentration camp kid, now grown up into Michael Fassbender, tracks down Bacon to his yacht at the same time McAvoy does, but Bacon escapes in a souped up submarine.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">There's an amusing recruitment montage with McAvoy and Fassbender rounding up other mutants which is slickly cut with '60s style and a Burt Bacharach-esque bounce to the soundtrack.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A sizable stable of characters is assembled including Nicholas Hoult, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 23px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Álex González, Caleb Landry Jones, </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Zoë Isabella Kravitz, and Jason Flemyng, with the film juggling them capably. The film's second half concerns the crew confronting the Cuban missile crisis with Bacon's sinister Shaw, who's a mutant himself, being the one responsible for the missiles' transportation from Russia.</span></span></span></span></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Like in all these comic book epics, the climax is an overblown battle. It's an explosive spectacle with battleships filling the sky full of warheads.</span></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Oddly, it feels like the influential touchstones of this movie are the STAR TREK reboot, and INGLORIOUS BASTERDS; it's an origin story intertwined with an alternate history scenario, and I was surprised at how much of it worked.</span></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">X-MEN: FIRST CLASS is a better than average summer sequel (actually prequel) that despite being cluttered with clichés, cheesy moments, and bad dialogue (Bacon even says "come with me, and you'll live like Kings...and Queens" at one point) offers a fair amount of fun.</span></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">The CGI is consistently top notch, as is the set design (I loved the complete replica of the War Room from DR. STRANGELOVE), and there's a satisfying sweep to the storyline.</span></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Particularly in the passion of Fassbender's performance, the confidence of McAvoy, the angsty energy of Laurence, and Bacon having a ball with his Bondian villain of a role, it's an incredibly effective cast.</span></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">On the minus side, some of Hoult's mannerisms as Laurence's possible love interest are annoying and his origin as "Beast" is undercooked, the young recruits are obnoxious, and January Jones never seems to be all there, but as she's clad in white lingerie when she's not crystalized, she obviously wasn't hired for her acting ability.</span></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3; font-size: large; line-height: 19px;">Regardless this breathes fresh air into the franchise, especially after the lackluster X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE.</span></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3; font-size: large; line-height: 19px;">With this classy and exceedingly entertaining effort, consider the series rebooted.</span></span><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /><br /><span style="color: #f3f3f3;"></span></span><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3; font-size: x-large;">More later...</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2532236956481712723.post-70561972924904418152011-05-28T08:07:00.000-07:002011-07-05T11:20:32.723-07:00A Failed Attempt At Redemption Through Puppetry<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span><br /><br /><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1321860/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">THE BEAVER</span></a> <b>(Dir. Jodie Foster, 2011)</b></span></span><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><br /><br /></b></span></span></div><div style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_6rlRJQGz90Q1PQlLOMC0KWeGQKggqoeD-ZCmjoMaRvzeSC96a4Oat0CDB2PJvt9uSU-CZDEjzjJhWVTcPxU87sjIflo9V39tiNCRk-Qspw8G5NdW4ICaEqFwT7tl6w7Gy5zQPEd_1q0/s1600/be0e3_ht_mel_gibson_beaver_nt_110505_wg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_6rlRJQGz90Q1PQlLOMC0KWeGQKggqoeD-ZCmjoMaRvzeSC96a4Oat0CDB2PJvt9uSU-CZDEjzjJhWVTcPxU87sjIflo9V39tiNCRk-Qspw8G5NdW4ICaEqFwT7tl6w7Gy5zQPEd_1q0/s400/be0e3_ht_mel_gibson_beaver_nt_110505_wg.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"><br /><br /></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">So, here's this film's story - a toy company CEO is in a deep dark funk. He's uncommunicative with his wife and kids, and his business is faltering. His wife kicks him out of the house. While discarding some of his things, he finds an old ratty beaver puppet in a dumpster and puts it on his left arm, During a drunken night in his hotel room with 2 failed suicide attempts, he crashes onto the floor with a TV falling down on him.</span></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;">When he awakes his puppet gives him a pep talk, and immediately he starts to get his life back together. "The Beaver," as it wants to be called, is now calling the shots to the puzzlement of his family and the employees.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;">Got that? Not sure I do. What makes it so hard to swallow is that Mel Gibson plays the despondent puppeteer. Gibson's popularity has waned in recent years because of famously controversial behavior, and part of this film's hype is that it could re-boot his career.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;">Don't count on it. This film, inexplicably directed by Jodie Foster (also appearing as Gibson's wife), is a dreary experience that has no insights into depression, delusion, or beaver puppets.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;">You might expect a comedy from a scenario where a man communicates only through a puppet, with a thick Cockey accent, but as The Beaver says at one point: "There's nothing funny about it."</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;">There's a subplot involving Gibson's son (Anton Yelchin) dealing with teen angst through a budding romance with an Jennifer Lawrence (WINTER'S BONE) as a valedictorian cheerleader who hires him to write her graduation speech. It really doesn't fit, but then nothing in this film fits.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;">The implausibility factor here is overwhelming, and not just from the basic premise. When Gibson develops and markets a bestselling wood-cutting kit, it hits such a false note that it's deafening. Likewise Foster's one-note reaction to her husband's dementia.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;">An unpleasant sex scene with Foster getting creeped out by the puppet is another scene that doesn't gel.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;">I'm not a fan of Gibson, but there were times his performance showed real effort and passion. However it's in vain as this is strained, self conscious material that never clicks.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;">In the last third, THE BEAVER takes some disturbing and drastic turns that don't add up, especially when considering how tidy the ending is.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What first time screenwriter </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 5px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 5px; line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Kyle Killen, and Foster were going for here beats me.</span></span></span><br /><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: xx-small;"></span><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;">Basically this film is a bunch of bad ideas desperately assembled in a lame attempt to form an inspirational story.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;">It's a failure as a comeback project for Gibson, and will probably be only remembered as a weird misguided movie that came and went with little fanfare. That is, if it's remembered at all.</span><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /><br /></span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">More later...</span> </span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2532236956481712723.post-13140991016583342112011-05-26T12:59:00.000-07:002011-07-05T11:20:32.723-07:00THE HANGOVER PART II: The Film Babble Blog Review<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /><br /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1411697/"><span class="Apple-style-span">THE HANGOVER PART II</span></a> <b><span class="Apple-style-span">(Dir. Todd Phillips, 2011)</span></b></span><br /><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></b></span><b><br /><br /></b></span><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611139444213343650" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq_Nqt8Efv8d45hobqYxh1I08zpMWphBwX2mmjkvPRsBrtTcOHkzwQD0FXuzVBZMd-OsF4QOirs8D27tmnZgUhKHEWuYnOKTaKAdS1XAgZBEX969UMrvtSoFvPXm5VdvsMdCb-bm-TJ1M/s400/the-hangover-part-II-top-image-banner.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 224px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /><br /><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">The sequel to the largest grossing R-Rated comedy of all time is exactly everything I thought it would be. I haven't seen such a blatant retread of a huge hit's premise and jokes since AIRPLANE II: THE SEQUEL.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Again we have Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, and Ed Helms playing the man-child protagonists who wake up to find themselves in way over their heads after a night of stag party debauchery. I actually recycled that sentence largely from my review of the first one - I figure if they can recycle it, so can I.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 20px;"><br /><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">This time the guys are in Bangkok. Helms is about to get married to Jamie Chung, and Cooper, Galifianakis, and Justin Bartha are there to attend the wedding.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Chung has a disapproving father (Nirut Sirichanya) who humiliates Helms at their reception dinner, so you know Helms will stand up to him in the end.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Bartha went missing in the first one, so their idea of mixing it up is to have Chung's younger brother (Mason Lee) disappear.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">The night starts at a resort in Thailand where Helms is talked into having just one beer with the "Wolfpack," as Galifianakis calls them, on the beach with a bonfire. What could go wrong?</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Just like before (okay I'll stop saying that - it could get exhausting) the camera pans up to the sky and the screen fades. We flash forward and we're in a scummy hotel room in the city of Bangkok. Galifianakis's hair head has been shaved, Helms has a Mike Tyson tattoo on his face, there's a capuchin monkey jumping around, and there's a severed finger with Lee's school ring on it among all the bottles, cocaine, and other debris from the previous night.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Oh yeah, there's also the crazy coked up Ken Jeong who Galifianakis invited as his +1 to the wedding sleeping on the floor.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">So the 'Wolfpack" hit the streets to figure out what happened to Lee and they wind through a convoluted scenario involving Monks, she-male prostitutes, Russian thugs, and an obligatory car-chase that includes the classically <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">clichéd <a href="http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19900223/GLOSSARY/50222004/1023">fruit cart scene</a>.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 19px;"><br /><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 19px;">The problem is this material is geared more for shock value than laughs. The leads have an energy going in their performances, playing amusingly off each other, but while Cooper and Helms almost overdo their effort, Galifianakis doesn't seem to care.</span></span><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 19px;"><br /><br /></span></span><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 19px;">Galifianakis can be funny with just an expression, and his eccentric childishness has its moments, but wears thin way before the halfway mark.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 19px;"><br /><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 19px;">In the middle of it all there's a surprising appearance by Paul Giamatti, who has a nice sharp scene or 2 - I guess to go further about it would be a Spoiler!</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 19px;"><br /><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 19px;">Otherwise, despite the absorbing locale, and a few good lines here and there, THE HANGOVER PART II is a tedious, definitively unnecessary, and supremely unsatisfying sequel.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 19px;"><br /><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 19px;">Actually the photos showing what happened during the guys' blackouts during the end credits are kind of funny, but again that's something they did in the first one.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 19px;"><br /><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 19px;">More later...</span></span></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2532236956481712723.post-36560338852350456862011-05-23T16:14:00.000-07:002011-07-05T11:20:32.724-07:00Product Place Me<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.2pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.2pt;"><div><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1743720/" style="font-size: large;">POM WONDERFUL PRESENTS: THE GREATEST STORY EVER SOLD</a> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><b>(Dir. Morgan Spurlock, 2011)</b></span><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><b><br /><br /></b></span></div><div style="font-size: large;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5610804754973829298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJfeKTBdBvWq50oRo_8s0FWtYHcezQe0wEK66hgUt_fyqqDT4upzw9my2Ep8WYnD4IkxMuKqnu9oYVJH8OPpvnltNJts991OXibGEmsD_yDgExY2n6D5BujO_O3j-j18S6RTVw2GKAhbM/s400/THE-GREATEST-MOVIE-EVER-SOLD-Morgan-Spurlock-3.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 271px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></div><div id="cke_pastebin"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Morgan Spurlock made a name for himself with SUPER SIZE ME, a documentary in which he filmed himself eating McDonald’s food for one month. He followed that up with WHERE IN THE WORLD IS OSAMA BIN LADEN?, another ambitiously gimmicky documentary that was equally inconsequential.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /><br /></span></div><div id="cke_pastebin"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"></span></div><div id="cke_pastebin"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Spurlock’s latest film is his gimmickiest for sure – it’s a movie about product placement that was financed by, wait for it, product placement!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /><br /></span></div><div id="cke_pastebin"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"></span></div><div id="cke_pastebin"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">So, a lot of this movie is a series of pitch meetings to companies that he wants to feature in his film. Spurlock approaches all the major, and not so major, corporations (well, not McDonald’s for obvious reasons) and gets rejected by most of them (“that doesn’t sound like a movie I’d have any interest in seeing” says one of the folks he cold calls), but a number of companies sign on. The one that ponied up the biggest bucks ($1 million), POM Wonderful, was rewarded with their name above the title, in case you’re wondering about the film’s bloated name.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /><br /></span></div><div id="cke_pastebin"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"></span></div><div id="cke_pastebin"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Spurlock pads the film with interviews with film makers like J.J. Abrams, Peter Berg, Quentin Tarantino, and Brett Ratner who have differing views on product placement. Noam Chomsky, Ralph Nader, and On The Media host Bob Garfield also appear. Spurlock asks Nader if there’s any truth in advertising. Nader responds: “Yeah, if the advertiser tells you they’re lying.”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /><br /></span></div><div id="cke_pastebin"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"></span></div><div id="cke_pastebin"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">In one of the film’s most interesting bit is a visit to San Paulo in Brazil, a city that has banned billboards and advertising of every kind from its streets and buildings. Spurlock hammers the point though with resident’s comments, and his own obvious statements: “Look, that taxi has no ad on it!” We get it.</span><br /><br /><div id="cke_pastebin"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Spurlock is never as funny, insightful, and engaging as he thinks he is, and there’s too many stretches where the film has nothing to say about its subject. I have no idea if Spurlock thinks product placement is good or bad, I’d guess that he thinks it’s good if it benefits him.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /><br /></span></div><div id="cke_pastebin"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"></span></div><div id="cke_pastebin"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">There’s a lot of stuff a good documentarian could do with the premise. It would be cool to learn the history of advertising on the big screen, what were the biggest deals made, with more insight into the argument over its merits.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /><br /></span></div><div id="cke_pastebin"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"></span></div><div id="cke_pastebin"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Instead we get Spurlock walking around a grocery store making lame jokes about products. He’s particularly amused about the shampoo for humans and horses Mane ‘n Tail. He giggles as he phones them, but I sure didn’t.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /><br /></span></div><div id="cke_pastebin"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"></span></div><div id="cke_pastebin"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">And then there's his cutesy mock commercial he makes for his sponsors. Really icky stuff.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /><br /></span></div><div id="cke_pastebin"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"></span></div><div id="cke_pastebin"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Spurlock’s Michael Moore methods all fall flat once again.</span></div><div id="cke_pastebin"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"></span></div><div id="cke_pastebin"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">In one of the pitch meetings in the first third, Spurlock says that “the goal of this whole film is transparency. You're going to see the whole thing take place from beginning to end.”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /><br /></span></div><div id="cke_pastebin"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"></span></div><div id="cke_pastebin"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">The film, and Spurlock, are indeed transparent - I can see right through them.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /><br /></span></div><div></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;">More later...</span></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2532236956481712723.post-18028998851912536162011-05-20T01:02:00.000-07:002011-07-05T11:20:32.724-07:00On Shallower Tides...<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'normal Arial', Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:14;"><p><a style="COLOR: rgb(51,102,153)" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1298650/" _cke_saved_href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1298650/"><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES</span></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"> <strong><span style="font-size:85%;">(Dir. Rob Marshall, 2011)</span></strong></span></p><p><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"><strong><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 253px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5610794335514473506" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIAHVuvNHLBAsahQKLAaCpL-IRbhNycP-hPSyD7LBfCnk9cQA47I-C1XxB9xhDUaput0Dof7BtQakgLOGtIKKiujq3vqPHgMsF8epKHgIMScjRIHeER8-WLEW3KuV9oLuj_UQ6lHyKKDU/s400/Pirates-Stranger-Tides-01.jpg" /></span></strong></span></p><p><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Never believe the hype.</span><br /></p><p><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">The word was that this was supposed to be the movie that got the franchise back on track. Even Johnny Depp was on record about how bloated and convoluted the last couple of PIRATES movies were, so the fourth film was set to right those wrongs.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Not so much. This installment is just as messy and murky as the last 2.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">In fact, looking back - I felt exactly the same way I did after seeing the 3rd one (AT WORLD'S END). </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">In my review of that I wrote:</span></p><p><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">"All the lame jokes, un-affecting fight scenes, and pointless attempts at romaticizing map-mythology with supposed sacred artifacts holding eternal power just left me bombastically bored.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">I did however like the Keith Richards cameo (as Jack Sparrow's father no less). I heard there was a bonus scene like the other PIRATES had after the credits but at the 2 hour 45 mark I was dying to get the hell out of the theater - bet you will be too."</span></p><p><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Except for the remark about the running time (at just over 2 hours this is shorter) I have the same reaction. This time I did stay to see the bonus scene though.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">A lot of the cast from the series doesn't return - there's no Keira Knightly, Orlando Bloom, or Bill Nighy so the film offers a lot of Depp sparring off with Geoffrey Rush and Ian McShane as Blackbeard, a real missed oportunity as a character.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">ON STRANGER TIDES is a noisy film full of groaners (Keith Richards has the funniest line, but I won't spoil it here), poorly plotted set-pieces, and Johnny Depp just swishing through the motions. It also doesn't take any pleasurable advantage of having zombies in it!</span></p><p><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">The last half takes the plot mechanics of INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE substituting the Holy Grail with the Fountain of Youth and re-writes them over and over again to no great effect.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Penélope Cruz and Depp have some mad chemistry but when she's reduced to a screaming b**** and Depp is just an ambitious cad they join the entire cast of people it's impossible to care about.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">The 3D did nothing for me either.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:130%;">I have to say though the audience around me seemed to love it all (there was even applause at the end), and my wife enjoyed it saying that she loved "the costumes, the detail on the sets and the ships," "how dark it was" and that "Johnny Depp appeals to all ages."</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Judging from that this movie looks pretty critic-proof. It's an event movie that people will feel obligated to see so I'm sure it'll be a big hit. To me though it was </span><a style="COLOR: rgb(51,102,153)" href="http://www.examiner.com/indie-movie-in-raleigh/when-it-comes-to-sequels-is-the-fourth-time-ever-the-charm" _cke_saved_href="http://www.examiner.com/indie-movie-in-raleigh/when-it-comes-to-sequels-is-the-fourth-time-ever-the-charm"><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">another failed fourth</span></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"> and a big waste of time.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:180%;">More...</span></p></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2532236956481712723.post-51395820078088944112011-05-14T15:14:00.000-07:002011-07-05T11:20:32.724-07:00EVERYTHING MUST GO: The Film Babble Blog Review<p style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 19px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 1em; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px"><a style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; COLOR: rgb(51,102,153); VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; TEXT-DECORATION: none; PADDING-TOP: 0px" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1531663/" rel="nofollow"><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:180%;">EVERYTHING MUST GO</span></a><span> <strong><span >(Dir. Dan Rush, 2011)</span></strong></span></p><p style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 19px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 1em; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 265px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5607158891059530194" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY4YMESpmMUkPpa6tNpPyGy8xI26aDCkI2uHMpTPLQHLlOzVGy92O-gL3bZ2Y-AEoUmFAqi-oLQgi-cnDZYZ8qL2nc2c63UgtpYZg4cCx4fPXBneFPAHsIl8pbJO2_0x0v3ZBzk7L0TGw/s400/Will_Ferrell_Everything_Must_Go_-thumb-450x298-22403.jpg" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Usually the summer movie season is time for a big dumb Will Ferrell comedy, but not this time around.</span></p><p style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 19px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 1em; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Here Ferrell takes on a spare indie film in which he plays a somewhat pathetic yet sympathetic character – a man who gets fired from his corporate job (by Glenn Howerton of <em style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia</em>, no less) because of his drinking, then comes home to find his wife has left him. She changed the locks, and all of Ferrell’s possessions are on the front lawn. His company car is repossessed soon after as well.</span></p><p style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 19px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 1em; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Drinking PBR after PBR, Ferrell tries to make the best of the situation. He hires a young boy (Christopher Jordan Wallace) to help him hold a yard sale after his former AA sponsor (Michael Peña) tells him that’s the only way he can legally live outside on the property for 5 more days.</span></p><p style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 19px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 1em; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Ferrell eyes a new neighbor across the street – a pregnant Rebecca Hall – with who he strikes up a friendship, he blackmails another neighbor (Stephen Root) for electricity after witnessing some S&M practices through Root’s and wife’s window, and he schools Wallace in business tips as well as baseball training.</span></p><p style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 19px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 1em; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Through this all, Ferrell’s restrained though obviously pained demeanor adds up to his best performance. In previous films like STRANGER THAN FICTION, MELINDA AND MELINDA, and even his over-the-top comic work, he’s hinted at layers of this kind of depth, but here it’s present in every scene.</span></p><p style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 19px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 1em; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Although it’s based on a 4-page Raymond Carver short story (“Why Don’t You Dance?”), it bears little resemblance to it except for the basic premise of an alcoholic selling all his belongings in his front yard. Of course, it would have to be fleshed out for a 96 minute movie and writer/director Dan Rush does an admirable job of doing just that.</span></p><p style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 19px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 1em; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px"><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">EVERYTHING MUST GO is a quiet touching movie that never tries to hard or panders too heavily to dramatic conventions. In its best scenes, themes aren’t spelled out; they’re inside the minds of the characters.</span></p><p style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 19px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 1em; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0pxfont-family:Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">As an old high school friend who Ferrell happens to be reminded of because of an old yearbook, Laura Dern has a greatly affecting scene. Dern and Ferrell catch up after decades of non-communication on her front porch, and there’s a nice notion in the air that people in the movies can just share a moment together without a forced romance getting in the way.</span></p><p style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 19px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 1em; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0pxfont-family:Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Same goes for Ferrell’s scenes with Rebecca Hall – the organic connection between these 2 people’s desperate pleasantries is palpable and endearing.</span></p><p style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 19px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 1em; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0pxfont-family:Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">In Carver’s short story, a young woman (who doesn’t exist in the movie), can’t quite figure out the man with his stuff in the yard who kept playing records on an old crappy turntable as she and her boyfriend danced.</span></p><p style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 19px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 1em; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0pxfont-family:Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Carver writes about her telling her friends about it: “She kept talking. She told everyone. There was more to it, and she was trying to get it talked out. After a time, she quit trying.”</span></p><p style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 19px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 1em; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0pxfont-family:Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">This film knows that sometimes you can’t get things talked out. Hmm, maybe it resembles the short story more than I thought.</span></p><br /><p style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 19px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 1em; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0pxfont-family:Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:180%;">More later...</span></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2532236956481712723.post-38460166168317822842011-05-12T23:57:00.000-07:002011-07-05T11:20:32.724-07:00BRIDESMAIDS: The Film Babble Blog Review<span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 19px" class="Apple-style-span"> <br /><p style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 1em; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline"><a style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; COLOR: rgb(51,102,153); VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; TEXT-DECORATION: none; PADDING-TOP: 0px" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1478338/" rel="nofollow"><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:180%;">BRIDESMAIDS</span></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span><span style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px"><strong>(Dir. Paul Feig, 2011)</strong></span></span></p><br /><p style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 1em; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px"><strong><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 265px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5606696267347909026" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRQisxAb6XoT96hlTixL3hGuaILwbi2zMBKU4i1mtcuXgid4TkS0RZmrfPTE4naqtIIhrFCJYPG8VOh-iGMeLTcP3aR0mZKytnnSpoeRS3wJIna9QoQkuOT8YNtl4SNqCTnD3XLvmMlts/s400/bridesmaids-1-11-1-kc.jpg" /></strong></span></span></p><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span class="Apple-style-span">On his highly addictive popcast “WTF,” comedian Marc Maron often talks about comic actors that have a grasp on exactly what’s funny about them. In scene after scene of BRIDESMAIDS, <span style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">Kristen Wiig</span> nails exactly what’s funny about her.</span><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span">Lately Wiig has been so overused on <em style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">Saturday Night Live</em> reprising obnoxious characters that weren’t that amusing in the first place, and then at the same time she’s underused in a string of sideline parts in movies such as PAUL, EXTRACT, MACGRUBER, GHOST TOWN, DATE NIGHT, etc. that it’s so satisfying to report that her first starring role is a real winner.</span><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span">Wiig’s mastery of nervously nuanced body language, and naturalisticly awkward line readings carries her hapless heroine Annie here hilariously through this uber affable film.</span><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span">As a former bakery owner turned jaded jewelry store clerk whose life is going steadily downhill, we first meet Wiig in bed with <em style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">Mad Men’s</em> <span style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">Jon Hamm</span> in the funniest sex scene since TEAM AMERICA.</span><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span">Hamm is, in his own words on <em style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">Conan</em>, an unrepentant douche-bag, who only wants no-strings-attached sex, but it’s obvious that Wiig wants more. Hamm just has a small, and oddly un-credited role, so we know that’s not where this is going.</span><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span">Wiig’s best friend since childhood <span style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">Maya Rudolph</span> is getting married, and our sardonic sad sack heroine finds out she has competition in the Maid of Honor department in Rose Byrne as Rudolph’s new upscale best friend.</span><br /><br />There are shades of Wiig’s Penelope character from<em style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px"> SNL</em>, in a good way, in a bit at an engagement lunch as Wiig and Bryne keep trying to upstage each other, stealing the microphone from each other back and forth in vain to get the last word in.<br /></span></span><br /><br /><p style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 1em; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline"><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">The other bridesmaids that make up the wacky wedding group are <em style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">Reno 911</em>’s <span style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">Wendy McLendon-Covey</span>, <em style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">The Office’s</em> <span style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">Ellie Kemper</span>, and <em style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">Mike and Molly’s </em><span style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">Melissa McCarthy</span> whose abrasive fearless performance comes close to stealing the movie, as funny as Wiig is.</span></p><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span class="Apple-style-span">On a plane to Vegas, Wiig gets drunk and tries to crash first class repeatedly while the rest of the cast gets in their own crazy predicaments which I won’t spoil. It’s a uproarious scene, but it’s far from the funniest ones on display, as a great sequence featuring Wiig breaking every law in the book driving up and down the road in front of a cop she had a fling with (<span style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">Chris O’Dowd</span>) tops it. I really can’t explain how this comes about – you’ve just got to see it for yourself.</span><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span">As that bemused cop, O’Dowd has charming repartee with Wiig and joins the well chosen cast which notably includes the last film role of <span style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">Jill Clayburgh</span> as Wiig’s ditzy celebrity portrait painting mother.</span><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span">Despite its predictable rom com trappings and some unnecessary gross-out humor (I could’ve done without a food poisoning/vomit scene in an expensive dress shop), BRIDESMAIDS is one of the funniest films of the year so far (that might not be saying much, I know).</span><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span">There are more laugh out loud moments than I can count, and <em style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">Freaks and Geeks</em>creator Feig (who also helmed episodes of <em style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">Mad Men</em>, <em style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">30 Rock</em>, <em style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">The Office</em>, and <em style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">Arrested Development </em>BTW) does a great job shaping the material written by Wiig and <span style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">Annie Mumolo</span><strong style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px"> </strong>with a touching tone and, for the most part, great timing.</span><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span">And coming from the <span style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">Judd Apatow</span> production line it’s a welcome change from the usual boy’s club fare.</span><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span">Ignore the accusations of BRIDESMAIDS being a female version of THE HANGOVER (although they did cut a Vegas party scene because of the similarity) and the superficial resemblance to such chick flick crap as BRIDE WARS, because this is an extremely funny movie that really should make Wiig a star.</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"><br /></span><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 19px" class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px;font-family:times new roman;font-size:180%;" >More later...</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2532236956481712723.post-4333589739760633962011-05-09T14:44:00.000-07:002011-07-05T11:20:32.724-07:00DVD Review: BEHIND THE BURLY Q<span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 19px" class="Apple-style-span"><br /><p style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 1em; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline"><a style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; COLOR: rgb(51,102,153); VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; TEXT-DECORATION: none; PADDING-TOP: 0px" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1510907/" rel="nofollow"><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 225px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 295px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5606692020461347954" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX_QyRfhpRr3S3dFIl7kKSxt3HgFeWUlSmWchdis6oU4jqVEbGAlQfHH-va9zFchjGqN7KE2U5T1Kxpe2qdXQLLrteIt46sgo7TMsv2c7But2p-D7B7eoM3bc6tjm6yZRV5JlsaAxknQE/s400/2427e31299eygt41.jpg.jpg" />BEHIND THE BURLY Q</span></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"> <strong><span style="font-size:100%;">(Dir. Leslie Zemeckis, 2010)</span></strong></span></p><p style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 1em; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline"><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">For her directorial debut, Leslie Zemeckis, actress and wife of film maker Robert Zemeckis, takes an informative and amusing look into the world of Burlesque.</span></p><p style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 1em; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline"><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">"Burlesque was a fabulous, gaudy era in America that's been left out of the history books." Says Marie Lee Evans (stage name: Dixie Evans"), one of many former chorus girls and strippers interviewed in this film.</span></p><p style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 1em; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;">From it's inception in the mid-1800s to its golden age in the '20s and the '30s, we get vintage footage, photos, and showbills, but best of all are the anecdotes.</span></p><p style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 1em; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;">Alan Alda, only identified as "son of Robert Alda," tells about having to stay with his aunts in Delaware because his show biz parents were on the road transporting around a pig they used in their act. Alda: "I hated this pig. This pig was stealing my parents from me."</span></p><p style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 1em; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;">Infamous stripper/actress Tempest Storm has some of the best moments, with her claims of having an affairs with JFK. Storm, recounting about being asked what Kennedy talked about in the bedroom, replied: "It certainly wasn't politics."</span></p><p style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 1em; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;">There's a lot of funny stuff about the comedians and who performed in and between (and sometimes during) striptease numbers. Many of them, like Abbott and Costello, developed material that they used in their movies at Burlesque shows.</span></p><p style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 1em; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline"><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">We also get the story of Blaze Star, subject of the 1989 movie BLAZE starring Lolita Davidovich and Paul Newman, who had an affair with Louisiana governor Earl Long ("He was a dirty old man" remembers Joy Pelletier aka "T.T. Red").</span></p><p style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 1em; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0pxfont-size:14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;">"Behind The Burly Q" boasts a wealth of juicy material that brings alive a vibrant era with a lot of entertaining insights. It also has a lot of nudity in it too.</span></p><p style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 1em; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0pxfont-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">I can't think of a better recommendation for a historical documentary than that.</span></p><p style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 1em; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0pxfont-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">Bonus Features:</strong> Three Featurettes: "The Reunion", "Memorabillia & Costumes", and "Behind The Scenes." Bonus Interviews, Burlesque Timeline, Photo Gallery, and the Original Theatrical Trailer.</span></span></p><br /><p style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 1em; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0pxfont-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:180%;">More later...</span></p></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2532236956481712723.post-83670661728727391612011-05-06T01:11:00.000-07:002011-07-05T11:20:32.725-07:00THOR: The Film Babble Blog Review<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0800369/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:180%;">THOR</span></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> <b><span class="Apple-style-span">(Dir. Kenneth Branaugh, 2011)</span></b></span></div><p><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 266px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603458170929841170" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTuIZCvBbhrfoMH9M37oMoXwEF6lgfUfQS7kkec3MyWZiYlijxMrBoZYR_WTfpkZXhcfyBcqFv0yJN5aIoJp4vEH5q1EyLTT1enmUJ8uD6BsxVvbEthmOL80_t4zpMIe0Yu9ZLLHjFfPY/s400/Thor-movie-trailer.png" /> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"><b>(Warning: This review may contain <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#ff0000;">Spoilers!</span>)</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Summer doesn't officially begin until late June, but the summer movie season began last week with the opening of the huge blockbuster FAST FIVE. However the season doesn't really feel like it's underway until a big-ass superhero flick swoops in, so today we get us the latest addition to the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvel_Cinematic_Universe"><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Marvel Cinematic Universe</span></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">: </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0800369/"><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">THOR</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is a cocky (and somewhat douchey) Norse God who lives in the splendiforic golden CGI city of Asgard which is in another realm from our world, you see?</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Thor's father, the King of this realm, played with his patented gravely gravitas by Anthony Hopkins, is ready to let his son take the throne, but an attack by a gang of scaly skinned creepy creatures called Frost Giants throws that plan out of whack.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">The Frost Giants steal the source of Asgard's power "the Casket of Ancient Winters." Defying their father, Thor and his brother (Tom Hiddleston) go after their frigid foes into their icy realm, along with their gung-ho troop of hearty warriors (Tadanobu Asano, Joshua Davis, Ray Stevenson, and Jaimie Alexander).</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">A busy and bombarding battle goes down, which doesn't please Hopkins so he banishes his son to Earth, and throws his hammer of power down there with him.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span class="Apple-style-span">It then becomes a bit of a fish out of water story with Thor meeting up with a trio of scientific researchers in a desert in New Mexico where he crash lands - Natalie Portman (</span>much more animated than in </span></span><a href="http://filmbabble.blogspot.com/2011/04/your-highness-film-babble-blog-review.html"><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">YOUR HIGHNESS</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">), a befuddled <span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 19px" class="Apple-style-span">Stellan Skarsgård, and the wise-cracking Kat Dennings - who take him in as they just happen to be up on Nordic mythology.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 19px;font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;" class="Apple-style-span">Thor's predicament is that he has to fight through a military instillation that has surrounded his mighty hammer in the desert since, like the Arthurian legend, it can not be removed by just anyone.</span></p><p><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 19px;font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;" class="Apple-style-span">The film gets bogged down in noisy fight scenes and impenetrable exposition that I couldn't follow recognize the weight of, but since I don't know the comic from which this is based, that stuff may mean a lot more to the hardcore.</span></p><p><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 19px;font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;" class="Apple-style-span">I got that Thor must fight his brother Hiddleston, who turns out to be half Frost Giant I guess, and a giant destructive robot in order to restore the kingdom of Asgard and awaken their father from some deep sparkling golden slumber, I think.</span></p><p><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 19px;font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;" class="Apple-style-span">It was hard to follow or care about this because Hemsworth has little charisma or believability in the role, and his being paired with Portman is forced and fairly chemistry-less.</span><br /></p><p><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 19px;font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;" class="Apple-style-span">Those elements don't completely cripple THOR, because on the surface it's a serviceable super hero movie with plenty of fast paced action that folks just wanting mindless thrills will likely go for.</span></p><p><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 19px" class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">It's also fun to see how the Marvel movies are building what my fellow local entertainment writer friend Zack Smith calls an "uber continuity" with Clark Gregg reprising his role as Agent Coulson from IRON MAN 1 & 2, a cameo by Jeremy Renner as </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawkeye_(comics)"><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Clint Barton/Hawkeye</span></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">, and an after the end-credits scene, which I won't spoil, but will just say that it foreshadows events to come in THE AVENGERS, so stay until the very end.</span></span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 19px" class="Apple-style-span">I was very surprised to see that this was directed by Kenneth Branaugh because in retrospect except for some nuanced acting from a few members of the cast, there is precious little in this assembly line formula that could be reasonably attributed to him.</span></span></span></span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 19px" class="Apple-style-span">While I normally avoid 3-D, I didn't have a choice with the advance screening I saw of this. I didn't get a headache, but apart from a few scattered arresting visuals, the 3-D added very little.</span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 19px;font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;" class="Apple-style-span">THOR is bombastic and in your face enough without such enhancement, but I bet kids of all ages will eat it up in whatever format.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 19px" class="Apple-style-span">More later...</span> </span></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2532236956481712723.post-58943107021401027682011-05-03T11:13:00.000-07:002011-07-05T11:20:32.725-07:00DVD Review: SQUARE GROUPER<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1466067/"><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">SQUARE GROUPER: THE GODFATHERS OF GANJA</span></a></span><span style="font-size:0;"><span style="font-size:0;"> <strong><span style="font-size:0;">(Dir. Billy Corben, 2011)</span></strong></span></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 21px; "><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 223px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5602720801508973138" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7GG-yaLLHMTgB1Xug-seMcJDmTEn5b_B70RJ-PAL1FUQtQr0iUiOLlr_d68VMfUSynyg-2uZIuan0M6M89nwhkhEzYW-Fdawflo52LI9Sq7H1gMGTzxjvS2ufygJeQwadkMpYvHguvh4/s400/Square+Grouper+Title+Screen.jpg" /></span><p><span style="font-size:130%;"><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></span> <span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">I missed this when it was screened last month at <a href="http://filmbabble.blogspot.com/2011/04/full-frame-documentary-film-festival.html">Full Frame</a> so I was happy to get a copy in the mail the day after the Festival.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">“Square Grouper” is the "slang term for bales of marijuana thrown overboard or out of airplanes in South Florida in the 1970s and 1980s,” this documentary tells us up front. Then we are gently taken into this exploration of Florida marijuana smuggling during that era, by way of a folksy ballad theme song that serenades the opening credits.</span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">The film is broken into 3 chapters – the first of which, "Part 1: Zion Coptic Church," deals with a Fundamentalist Christian sect in Florida that believed Ganja to be a sacred herb that brings them closer to God. They smuggled huge amounts of marijuana from Jamaica to their mansion (called a "luxury compound") in Star Island, Florida.</span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Through newly shot interviews with former church members, neighbors, reporters, and Federal agents we learn how the sect was the target of a ginormous bust.</span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">The second segment, "Part 2: Black Tuna Gang," concerns another Miami marijuana operation consisting of Robert Platshorn, who served the longest prison term for a non-violent marijuana offense in US history, his partner in crime Bobby Meinster, and gang accountant Howard Blumn. One of the funniest moments here is former FBI agent Harold Copus talking about getting a subsciption to "High Times" magazine so the agents could better follow the drug trade.</span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span">A joint DEA-FBI outfit brought down the Black Tuna Gang, and the principle member's marriages were put to the test, with Platshorn's wife Lynne also doing jail-time. This segment has the most emotional power of the three.</span></span> </span></span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">The final chapter, "Part 3: Everglades City,” leaves Miami and heads to a small fishing town on Florida’s southwest coast in which “smuggling was a way of life” because the secret bayous and mangrove islands that can conceal transport activity. Just about everyone in town was involved in the operation and became very rich off the “sea weed” until, yep, the FBI and DEA swept in.</span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">This documentary benefits from its soundtrack largely scored by Spam Allstars' Andrew Yeomanson and the “Square Grouper” band with a few original compositions by director Corben. The music compliments the material perfectly, and fits in nicely with a concluding cover of Jimmy Buffet’s “A Pirate Looks at Forty” that Everglades City resident Lee “Leebo” Noble performs on guitar (Noble: “Even though Jimmy Buffett is a manatee-huggin’ son-of-a-bitch, we still like this song”).</span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Meticulously crafted from ‘70s and ‘80s TV news footage, period photographs, newspaper headlines, and many recently shot interviews, the film may be slightly overstuffed, but the juiciness of the stories is so rich, and the plain-spoken charm of most of the participants that it makes for supreme info-tainment.</span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">In the words of a stoner: SQUARE GROUPER is killer shit.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 21px; ">SQUARE GROUPER is now available on DVD. According to the Netflix website it will be available streaming soon.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:180%;">More later...</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2532236956481712723.post-11426297028560275382011-04-26T12:54:00.000-07:002011-07-05T11:20:32.725-07:00OF GODS AND MEN: The Film Babble Blog Review<div><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1588337/"><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:180%;">OF GODS AND MEN</span></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> <strong><span style="font-size:85%;">(Dir. Xavier Beauvois, 2010)</span></strong></span></div><br /><div></div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 276px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599996804849875474" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwGL_1qvJfVOf9aXHZDq5riaQdLP0xKz32f71NL7QYxb8lGXYDfecHd7JNzBR3brg-4bDfNupd4jkPmQDiMlNEfbZgltfaPHvMfbGhxm2tn5cY6Obt0zEGiczsEtukBcmLcS4ZYUdr_ss/s400/of_gods_and_men_-_image_3.jpg" /><div><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">The most stirring scene of this immaculately affecting French film involves a group of Trappist monks singing towards a stained glass window in their Algerian monastery as an armed helicopter hovers above.</span></div><div></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Granted, it takes a while to get there as this film is a real slow burner. We follow these monks, led by Lambert Wilson and Michael Lonsdale, through their serene daily routines for a long tranquil stretch before a bunch of Islamic terrorists start taking over the terrain.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">The monks debate on whether they should stay or go - some believing they should uphold their sacred ground, and some thinking to stay would be "collective suicide."</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Based on a true story from 1996, OF GODS AND MEN beautifully builds to its profoundly powerful ending with a series of carefully crafted scenes. In one such scene, the monks drink wine to Tchaikosky's "Swan Lake" and enjoy a moment of peace as doom looms nearer.</span></div><div></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">It's so quiet and poetic a film, due to the solid cinematography of Caroline Champetier and the abundance of holy chants throughout the film, that when the bried instances of violence occur they really strike you.</span></div><div></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Beauvois has made a spare yet intensely spiritual film that pays touching tribute to these men of faith, illuminating their final days sans sappy sentiment.</span></div><div></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">It shows that as often as the light can be salvation, it can also be the cold hard light of day. This film's brave accomplishment is that it's straight with us about that.</span><br /></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:180%;">More later...</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2532236956481712723.post-24728698744710225292011-04-25T11:06:00.000-07:002011-07-05T11:20:32.725-07:00THE CONSPIRATOR: The Film Babble Blog Review<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><p><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0968264/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:180%;">THE CONSPIRATOR</span></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> <b><span class="Apple-style-span">(Dir. Robert Redford, 2010)</span></b></span></span></p><p><b></b><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 258px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599981048994751362" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtSHXMdwVY2FDk4Q5JBvupjCAlqrsAiBO01AIPNthDooTPqArIqnrUxw9jSmDiakXhvkN4zFGKNMR1eAHQqrSEenG2ek-H3WK0ZwcETTRCEp_TdduepEIPLX3ianFFcEDd_PktIHzfzCY/s400/the-conspirator-2011-1-535x300.jpg" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Robert Redford's 8th film as director finds him again mining the political mechanics behind a well known controversial event. This time, it's the assassination of Abraham Lincoln with the focus being the lone female charged as a co-conspirator.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;">James McAvoy plays Frederick Aiken, a fresh out of law school lawyer who Senator Reverdy Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) suggests should defend the woman, boarding house owner Mary Surratt portrayed by Robin Wright.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;">McAvoy isn't interested in taking the case on because he thinks she's guilty, but as he gets enveloped into the back story, he begins to see the woman as a possible scapegoat.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;">Unfortunately the viewer doesn't get enveloped, as this is stiff glacially plotted material. It was first difficult to pinpoint exactly what's wrong with this film as surface-wise it's a handsome looking, well acted, and noble intentioned piece of work, but somehow it's a extremely dull experience in which history never comes alive.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;">Redford must have thought he was coming on too strong in LIONS FOR LAMBS (which he was), so he decided to delicately dramatize the proceedings here. Sadly so delicately that nothing has any weight to it, and all the player's parts are blandly rendered.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;">As Lincoln's Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, Kevin Kline is the only one who carves out a convincing character, but he too is cornered inside this undercooked contraption of a non-epic.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;">As a by-the-numbers history lesson, THE CONSPIRATOR does put forth some undeniably important points about Constitutional rights and gives us a new angle on an ages old story, but Redford's hands off execution is too distant and dismal for the film to do anything but ultimately disappear.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:180%;">More later...</span></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2532236956481712723.post-60462531760006192832011-04-21T11:49:00.000-07:002011-07-05T11:20:32.726-07:00SUPER: The Film Babble Blog Review<div style="text-align: center;"></div><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1512235/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 180%;">SUPER</span></a><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"> <b><span class="Apple-style-span">(Dir. James Gunn, 2010)</span></b></span></span><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /><br /></span></b></span></span><br /><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></b></span><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5598873120660800882" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1bSlHMa_AIdUspIRgVNbUNR7OCn6GuHlTzyPghosyASjAEGqY7iaJQzrB1ZQc74seiAfFy2YfAME3NOIPlc7_dHJSbFX1Sp4d39cEi70J_Fb4ue0kqTDL5w1pUVSYzKcx6-llIn5Wrnw/s400/super_movie_image_rainn_wilson_02-600x400.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 227px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 130%;">Add The Crimson Bolt to the growing list of superheroes that aren't really superheroes.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 130%;">Just like KICK ASS, this movie wonders out loud 'why don't people actually try to be superheroes,' gives us an ordinary schmuck who dons a costume, and has him get his ass kicked before he ultimately saves the day.</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 130%;">However, the tone of SUPER is completely different. </span><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 130%;"><br /><br /></span><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 130%;">Rainn Wilson is our ordinary schmuck here, a short-order cook whose wife (Liv Tyler) leaves him for a slimy drug dealing kingpin played by Kevin Bacon.</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 130%;">Rainn takes us into his deprssing existence by way of dry narration ("People look stupid when they cry" he says over a shot of him sobbing), with the film starting off darkly, but a blaringly bright cartoon credits sequence seems to announce that the film is going to be an outrageous romp.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 130%;">It is and it isn't - there are some funny bits here and there, but once Rainn takes up bashing people's heads in with a wrench, the film's laughs get fewer and fewer.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 130%;">As a comic book store clerk who is implausibly infatuated with Rainn, Ellen Page overacts like crazy, as if she's trying make us forget her graceful performance in last summer's INCEPTION. Page makes her own costume, which she poses in creepily, and despite Rainn's insistence that he needs no sidekick, asserts herself as "Bolty" - her Robin to Rainn's Batman.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 130%;">In one of many unpleasant moments, Page forces herself sexually on Rainn - why on earth did the film makers feel they had to go there?</span><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 130%;">The pathetic duo arm themselves with heavy weaponry to take on Bacon's thugs, and the movie's final act is a ultra-violent shakily-shot shoot 'em up in which the film beats its premise into a bloody pulp.</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 130%;">It's an unamusing assault on the senses with a flimsy conclusion. </span><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 130%;"><br /><br /></span><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 130%;">The only strength is Rainn's unwavering commitment to character. This guy definitely has more layers to him than Dwight Shrute, and Rainn fleshes them out intensely. It's a character that deserves a better more rounded narrative, not these worn out conventions.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 130%;">On the sidelines Liv Tyler doesn't have much to do but look drugged out, Bacon seems to be having a ball probably because he could've done the role in his sleep, and as one of the heavies Michael Rooker just looks uncomfortable.</span><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 130%;">Oh, I almost forgot the odd cameo by Nathan Fillion (<i>Firefly</i>, <i>Castle</i>) as a Christian superhero named the Holy Avenger that Rainn is inspired by when watching him on an religious cable channel. </span><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 130%;"><br /><br /></span><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 130%;">Really don't know what the point of that means either.</span><span class="Apple-style-span"> <span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 130%;"></span></span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 130%;">SUPER is a tired take on superhero pipe-dreams that has nothing new to say satirically. I rolled my eyes more than I laughed, and I cringed more than I smiled. </span><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 130%;"><br /><br /></span><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 130%;">I guess those are fitting reactions to a film written and directed by the guy who wrote the live action SCOOBY-DOO movies.</span><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 180%;"><br /><br /></span><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"></span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 180%;">More later...</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2532236956481712723.post-74701893187582354112011-04-17T20:33:00.000-07:002011-07-05T11:20:32.726-07:00Full Frame Documentary Film Festival 2011: Days Three & Four<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3AbB6SAIXooHQTdqVo_hqBtxKhsSm03MpelDQMYlkRU9kxPx7W2pqYiosFv62F8n5RO9I9_VXLC5RNia22BxlAyus_MBWS0KPruV_ZTlYjRKQjLCyg2ZSj2ZpuOJ5p57IqIEGjr6s0wk/s1600/003.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 239px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597047986023563906" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3AbB6SAIXooHQTdqVo_hqBtxKhsSm03MpelDQMYlkRU9kxPx7W2pqYiosFv62F8n5RO9I9_VXLC5RNia22BxlAyus_MBWS0KPruV_ZTlYjRKQjLCyg2ZSj2ZpuOJ5p57IqIEGjr6s0wk/s400/003.JPG" /></a> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;">I came home last night late from Durham to a neighborhood without power due to the Tornado sweeping through the area Saturday afternoon. Probably wouldn't have done much blogging anyway as I was exhausted.</span><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;"></span></div><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;">Well, now it's Sunday night and I've got a bunch of notes to unload so here's my round-up of documentaries from the last 2 days:</span><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><b></b></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,0,0)" class="Apple-style-span"><strong>Films I saw on Saturday, April 16th:</strong></span> </span></span><br /><div><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1787777/">PAGE ONE: A YEAR INSIDE THE NEW YORK TIMES</a> <strong><span style="font-size:85%;">(Dir. Andrew Rossi, 2011)</span></strong></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;"><strong><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span></strong></span></div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597047236898616626" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwkrnupiPog3ooBsmP1nt8qLoGEu9gZFHoCeQ74hlk0F50qretoVca7hAINWd12MNZuDhpx6RZO9X-ZQH4pNzNPOMjjDZc4ozdmAJTucbnRWNqyWtrjxbNiSfnN4aGtWZtz8Y2Wv6rj2k/s400/page-one-new-york-times-007.jpg" /> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;">Reports of the death of the newspaper have been greatly exaggerated this film successfully stresses as we see the staff of the New York Times struggle to adapt in the face of major technological advances and threats like Wikileaks. </span><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;"></span></div><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;">With amazing access to the media desk, Rossi follows these key players in print: Executive Editor Bill Keller, blogger turned Times writer Brain Stelter, Media Marketing Editor Bruce Headlam, and media and culture columnist David Carr who steals the movie over and over with his dead on acerbic comments.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:130%;">As a subscriber to the Times, I loved the inside insights into the newspaper's ongoing developments, and thoroughly enjoyed how the film handled the history of the iconic newspaper with amusing anecdotes graced by great grainy archival footage.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:130%;">The film was followed by a Q & A/discussion with director Rossi, producer Kate Novack, Headlam, and Stelter who all got a standing ovation.</span> </div><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLGFxJqWfyyvLagQrreLFWNXLJXLRYZzzQOzPFBkJDQuXvx5GsTAKpcB2_0Rgu147S54Nk0wVKIq7Zn-iZL1yqO7KZNT9T6Gyj5APAU2b2xIKSL0A0P9jcD6tK5H7hUjg5-uipuz4QvKg/s1600/KCElmo2.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 248px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 211px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597046665840723506" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLGFxJqWfyyvLagQrreLFWNXLJXLRYZzzQOzPFBkJDQuXvx5GsTAKpcB2_0Rgu147S54Nk0wVKIq7Zn-iZL1yqO7KZNT9T6Gyj5APAU2b2xIKSL0A0P9jcD6tK5H7hUjg5-uipuz4QvKg/s400/KCElmo2.jpg" /></a><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1758826/">TUGS</a> <strong><span style="font-size:85%;">(Dir. Jessica Edwards, 2011)</span></strong> / <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1787660/">BEING ELMO</a> <strong><span style="font-size:85%;">(Dir. Constance Marks, 2011)</span></strong> This program of 2 films started with a 10 minute movie about tugboats in the New York City harbor (even including a tugboat race!) that was wonderfully shot and certainly one of the best shorts I've seen #fullframe, but it was overwhelmingly overshadowed by the bio doc of Kevin Clash, the puppeteer and voice of the iconic <em>Sesame Street</em> character Elmo.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:130%;">BEING ELMO is a joyous journey through the life of a man who grew up obsessed with puppets. As a kid he built 85 of them which he perfected operating and developing voices. In 1978 he traveled to New York to meet puppeteer/designer Kermit Love who had worked on many Jim Henson productions, and that opened the door for Clash to apply for Sesame Street.</span> </div><br /><div><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:130%;">Clash went on to work on <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091369/">LABYRINTH</a>, <em><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101081/">Dinosaurs</a></em>, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100758/">TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES</a>, and many many Muppet productions, but his breakthrough, of course, came when puppeteer Richard Hunt frustratingly threw the Elmo puppet across the room to Clash and said: "See if you can come up with a voice for this thing."</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:130%;">The only fault I had with the film is that it didn't tell us about Love's death in 2008. I mean, I can understand why so much time is spent on Henson, but according to the film, Love was Clash's true mentor.</span> </div><br /><div><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:130%;">Anyway, the audience loved the movie, laughing at all the right places and aww-ing at every cute Muppet that popped up on screen, but they went nuts when a man holding what was obviously Elmo ran up and danced in front of the street during the credits. That's right - Kevin Clash and Elmo were there! </span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:130%;">This was great news for everyone in attendance except for TUGS director Jessica Edwards who stood alone on one side of the screen while everybody was wrapped up in Clash, and the BEING ELMO film makers (including director Constance Marks). Edwards only got one question, and looked fairly unfazed, but the Full Frame folks really ought to have given the Elmo doc, which was nearly feature length at 76 minutes, its own slot and programmed TUGS with a different short film - one that doesn't involve an iconic character loved the world over.</span> </div><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 253px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597052360876512498" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQIF0tvS-zPp8aWCS5Y5bY4NB3riebsZOO8Gk_YN55B6B2vrhyejVKUPYM7iEfyRfhV81Po-BUpXK5-p0lX2UebBtQMWcIRLGOuQjZSgCBNiGIdYfSuy3qqlF7WEVjTFYvn7SB2QUHTs4/s400/scenesofacrime.jpg" /><a href="http://scenesofacrime.com/">SCENES OF A CRIME</a> <strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:85%;">(Dirs. Grover Babcock & Blue Hadaegh, 2011)</span></strong> This film, about a man accused of abusing his 4 month old baby, can be unpleasant to sit through, but its a stirring inquiry into wrongful interrogation techniques. Using large portions of a ten hour video made by the detectives of their interrogation of the man (Adrian Thomas) who repeatedly declares his innocence, the film presents viewpoints from psychiatrists, jurors, and the cops themselves about the difficult situation.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:130%;">There's also excerpts from a troubling police training video: "The Reid Technique," which hammers home the scenario in which a man might plead guilty to a crime he didn't commit. SCENES FROM A CRIME is a fascinating thought provoking film, and well deserving of the Center for Documentary Studies Filmmaker Award it won on Sunday.</span></div><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1235790/">MAGIC TRIP</a> <strong><span style="font-size:85%;">(Dirs. Alison Ellwood & Alex Gibney, 2011)</span></strong></span></div><br /><div><strong><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:85%;"></span></strong></div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 223px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597045571783103074" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP2xddFFH2oC7FkE_7NNsekKQjho672UXpuIawpxZTjvtB4LFswrz0xepQwdz-phgXXmyUFaJZrfQcm4d10MsTgO8n0WKOW3Gno1JWSIIDEBtbj9Eb3T2etX1iiVAq6CNHWlcehSGGszU/s400/kesey.jpg" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;">I've found the films of Alex Gibney (<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1016268/">ENRON: THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM</a>, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0854678/">TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE</a>, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1540814/">CASINO JACK AND THE UNITED STATES OF MONEY</a>) to be fine, but a bit flashy and formulaic at times - sexying up material when it doesn't need to be sexied up. However, that style works wonders here as he takes rough old film of the infamous Merry Pranksters from their 1964 road trip across America, and shapes it into cohesive invigorating narrative.</span><br /><div><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:130%;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:130%;">It's a buzz to see color footage of counter culture God Ken Kesey (author of "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" if you don't know) dancing around, talking a mile-a-minute, with Neal Cassady (inspiration for the Character of Dean Moriarty in Jack Kerouac's "On The Road"), and an assorted gang of freaks with monikers such as "Zonker", "Hardly Visible", and "Stark Naked" living it up on the eve of the '60s revolution. Injesting every substance they can find, they make the trip in a school bus painted and re-painted in psychedelia, and dubbed "Further."</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">MAGIC TRIP is a colorful, funny, and rockin' flick that captures its era beautifully and is sure to give audiences a cinematic contact high.</span></div><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;color:#ff0000;"><strong>Films I saw on Sunday, April 17th:</strong></span> </div><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4hMn8283EFdR9fmeNYIpVhjes24tu0_Ovv_NgJ6bu6-epi5-p_zb0d5zrXttEzFigVO-cYKeBcX2X9VcqtKAs2bfFz5lNY-9DrEl7uDloJDVID2JIxYRfU91owbHFhdl2y4cy_6riy1s/s1600/tabloid-movie-poster-429x600.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 230px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 299px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597044413451266194" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4hMn8283EFdR9fmeNYIpVhjes24tu0_Ovv_NgJ6bu6-epi5-p_zb0d5zrXttEzFigVO-cYKeBcX2X9VcqtKAs2bfFz5lNY-9DrEl7uDloJDVID2JIxYRfU91owbHFhdl2y4cy_6riy1s/s400/tabloid-movie-poster-429x600.jpg" /></a><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1704619/">TABLOID</a> <strong><span style="font-size:85%;">(Dir. Errol Morris, 2011)</span></strong> This was definitely the craziest film of the fest, and coming after MAGIC TRIP - that's saying a lot. It comes from an unlikely source - famed documentarian Errol Morris (<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077598/">GATES OF HEAVEN</a>, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096257/">THE THIN BLUE LINE</a>, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0317910/">THE FOG OF WAR</a>, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0896866/">STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE</a>) - and is about a silly subject, which was called the <a href="http://http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joyce_McKinney">"Mormons sex in chains case."</a> </span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:130%;">Simply stated, the film is about Joyce McKinney, a former beauty queen (Ms. Wyoming World), who was charged of kidnapping a Mormon missionary she used to date, after trailing him to England in 1977. </span><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:130%;">Maybe it's not so simple. McKinney claims repeatedly that they were in love and that her beau had been brainwashed by the Mormon Church, but interviews with the Daily Press's Peter Tory and the Daily Mirror's Kevin Gavin tell a different story.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:130%;">It's McKinney, herself, as an interview subject that makes this movie roll with her hilarious sing-songy Southern accent, and bubbly demeanor. Whether the film is showing us sordid headlines and photos of her in the 'Me' decade, or giving us the twisted tale of her getting involved with cloning her pit bull puppy (that's right), she's always got a funny line for the occasion.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:130%;">At one point, McKinney says: "See if you can get the vision set in your head, Mr. Film Maker!" Morris sure nailed the vision here.</span> </div><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1185371/">CORMAN'S WORLD: EXPLOITS OF A HOLLYWOOD REBEL</a> <strong><span style="font-size:85%;">(Dir. Alex Stapleton, 2011)</span></strong></span></div><br /><div><strong><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:85%;"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 257px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597040479416303666" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLFw91Ndv-dWe9-2Sc7o66sRRHuDrTu4mPAz88_gUYTKnFYz5Cbx4mf9LPBv9Z8CMDc8eHFqZhzXvLcL5Jlb2PLPe3E4NHmtXQW_LxPBD5312FnTCsUdgjbLiC6QHK6KeecTxTF3ScadQ/s400/cormans.world.movie.image.cb.jpg" /></span></strong></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;">Many documentaries about the "New Hollywood" movement in the '60s and '70s have had small segments about the huge influence of director/producer Roger Corman, so it seems time for the man to be the star of his own career appraising bio doc. Fitting that it's certainly the most star studded film at Full Frame; it's filled with interviews with Jack Nicholson, Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard, Robert De Niro, Peter Bogdonavich, and many more A-listers singing Corman's praises.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span class="Apple-style-span">CORMAN'S WORLD is a electrifying blast. A</span><span class="Apple-style-span">n incredibly funny ride through drive-in movie schlock, and exploitation mayhem is at hand with a moving message about how much fun movies that don't take themselves seriously can be. </span></span></span></div><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:130%;"></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:130%;">Before JAWS and STAR WARS came along and co-opted his model with bigger budgets, Corman's movies were the go-to choice for campy big screen entertainment, and there's a lot of it here with dozens of clips, film stills, and garrish movie posters.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:130%;">It's those interview bits that really had me laughing like when Jack Nicholson said: "By mistake he actually made a good picture every once in a while...I was never in it, but that was as much my fault as it was the next guy's."</span> </div><br /><div><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:130%;">Nicholson tears up a bit towards the end of the doc when talking about Corman being his sole source of support for many years. With all this mighty evidence of a one-of-a-kind film maker who still goes against the system, I did too.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:130%;">The next film was a rescreening that was announced after the Awards BBQ:</span></div><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOJsNzVdOUUGYjo0XhRR-Iss5CV_yLnJiND-Fo7kK0xc11r8934Not_rjgn7zwHYEzR_PO25wKTFEMpxB06uRWao6N8Z7YVZpA0HizADD5ErwDF5-46tVLqylLEkgQOhhKQ0v97Xft7Hc/s1600/the_interrupters_a_l.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 267px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 196px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597039517713970130" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOJsNzVdOUUGYjo0XhRR-Iss5CV_yLnJiND-Fo7kK0xc11r8934Not_rjgn7zwHYEzR_PO25wKTFEMpxB06uRWao6N8Z7YVZpA0HizADD5ErwDF5-46tVLqylLEkgQOhhKQ0v97Xft7Hc/s400/the_interrupters_a_l.jpg" /></a><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1319744/">THE INTERRUPTERS</a> <strong><span style="font-size:85%;">(Dir. Steve James, 2011)</span></strong> As this was my final film of the fest I was a bit weary, but this doc still had my attention from start to finish. James (<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110057/">HOOP DREAMS</a>) presents the passionate mission of the "Violence Interrupters" - members of the Chicago based organizion CeaseFire. </span></div><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;">Employing an intervention strategy intended to halt the huge amount of gun violence affecting the community, the project appears to be making strides, although in many instances in this film, the efforts can feel profoundly futile.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:130%;">It's a long film (144 minutes), but James makes good use of the time following well meaning members of CeaseFire like the fiercely determined Ameena Matthews, and Cobe Williams who used to be heavily involved in crime. We sit in on meetings, walk the streets, and enter the homes in Chicago danger zones, and it's all powerfully affecting.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:130%;">Okay! So that's another Full Frame Documentary Film Festival done. There were a lot of films I didn't see so please seek other's coverage. That's what I'm going to do right now, because even after seeing 20 docs over the last 4 days I'm still hungry for more.</span> </div></div><div><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:180%;">More later...</span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2532236956481712723.post-51272206707600495272011-04-16T09:53:00.000-07:002011-07-05T11:20:32.726-07:00Full Frame Documentary Film Festival 2011: Day Two<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi40v6se9BfXUIVUYIne8FZ3UEb4FWvk2EqamtMizYSQ3PL7MnQupPVjzqQvmcnVRv3WcCGl2yidTszz2H8l5vMlWdexjAn72Uc3W14Swl280t7e_DdWxxFCyd98rlBFQtEOeBaOiXFfcQ/s1600/001.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596044960049519122" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi40v6se9BfXUIVUYIne8FZ3UEb4FWvk2EqamtMizYSQ3PL7MnQupPVjzqQvmcnVRv3WcCGl2yidTszz2H8l5vMlWdexjAn72Uc3W14Swl280t7e_DdWxxFCyd98rlBFQtEOeBaOiXFfcQ/s400/001.JPG" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Another day of nice weather greeted the second day of Full Frame (that may change tomorrow though). I saw a particularly strong group of documentaries today, but it got off to a rough start: </span></span><br /><div></div><span class="Apple-style-span"></span><br /><div><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><b>RAW MATERIAL, INDIGESTIBLE</b> - Now, this wasn't a movie - it was a collection of 10 film bits and fragments selected by writer/archivist Rick Prelinger. It's part of this year's thematic program "One Foot in the Archives," that also included showings of BROTHER, CAN YOU SPARE A DIME, STRICTLY PROPAGANDA, and THE BLACK POWER MIXTAPE. </span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span"></span><br /><div><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">In RAW MATERIAL, Preliger would show a brief clip of, say, "an actual hobo" then provide a little commentary and take questions. He stressed that this was an exclusive showing of these films, mostly black and white films from the '40s, because he's "reluctant to put into the public pool" just yet. Among these "scratch transfers" were such bits as the KKK marching in a Pennsylvania parade, footage from an Illinois asylum, and a heavily-edited-for-our-safety "technique for electro-shock therapy" training film from 1951. </span></div><span class="Apple-style-span"></span><br /><div><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">The films were interesting, but the audience participation part dragged with all too few insights into the use or mis-use of archival film in the ethics versus copyright debate. It was cool to see an actual hobo though.</span></div><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">HOW TO PICK BERRIES (Dir. Elina Talvensaari, 2010) / </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1540816/"><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">WHEN CHINA MET AFRICA</span></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"> (Dirs. Marc Francis & Nick Francis, 2010) The first of these short films is a 19 minute mediation on the culture clash in Finland due to Thai immigrants coming to co-opt their national crop of Cloudberries. It didn't really grab me, but its transitions through ethereal imagery is striking. I get a little weary of docs just made up of still shots of nature with a voice saying supposedly profound things on top of it.</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span"></span><br /><div><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">The much better second short takes a look at China's expansion into Africa in the Aughts. We follow Chinese businessmen working with Zambian power brokers to develop relations further with farmers and road workers. The access to these people is remarkable, but some scenes seem somewhat staged. It's a swift professionally made 75 minutes of wheeling and dealing with the scenario of Chinese colonialization compared to the British's previous entanglement with Africans being brought up in the discussion afterward with director Nick Francis.</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span"></span><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1759682/"><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">THE LOVING STORY</span></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"> (Dir. Nancy Buirski, 2011) Full Frame founder Buirski returns to the festival to premiere her debut doc, and it's one of the best films on display. Its the emotionally powerful story of Mildred and Richard Loving - the couple involved in overturning the law in Virginia banning interracial marriage in the '60s in the U.S. Supreme Court. </span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span"></span><br /><div><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">The Lovings were arrested in 1958 right after being wed, and told they had to divorce or leave the state. They spent 9 years fighting the system aided by ACLU lawyers Bernie Cohen and Phillip Hirschkop. An astounding array of previously unseen footage, both black and white and color, makes up the film, along with interviews of the key players decorating the edges.</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span"></span><br /><div><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">A post film Q and A moderated by Walter Dellinger featured Buirski, producer Elisabeth Haviland James, Hope Ryden (who filmed the Lovings back in the day), retired lawyer Cohen (who got a standing ovation), and daughter Peggy Loving.</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span"></span><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Also a cool piece by local writer Glenn McDonald interviewing Buirski was in yesterday's Raleigh News & Observer. You can read it </span><a href="http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/04/15/1127924/a-loving-debut-at-full-frame.html"><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">here</span></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">.</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span"></span><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1889394/"><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">GUN FIGHT</span></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"> (Dir. Barbara Kopple, 2011) Kopple's (</span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074605/"><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">HARLAN COUNTY U.S.A.</span></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">, AMERICAN DREAM, </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0811136/"><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">SHUT UP AND SING</span></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">) moving examination on the severe state of current gun laws and gun ownership comes off like a better thought out BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE. Production on the film began 4 days after the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007, and it follows one of the students who was shot (Colin Goddard) as he campaigns for the fight to prevent gun violence for one of its fascinating strands. </span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span"></span><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></span></div><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">We also meet former NRA spokesman Robert Feldman, emergency medical physician/gun violence researcher Garen Wintemute, and Temple University's Dr. Amy Goldberg, all providing probing thoughts into these complicated and often contradictory issues. Kopple's film is not anti-gun, nor pro-gun in any extreme fashion, it just wants to grasp the heart of the arguments. It left me with the debate going on in my head, and isn't that what the best documentaries are supposed to do?</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span"></span><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">A Q & A with Kopple, Feldman, producer Marc Weiss, producer Williams Cole, editor Bob Eisenhardt, Godard, and his parents (Andrew and Anne) followed the film.</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span"></span><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1678050/"><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">CURE FOR PAIN: THE MARK SANDMAN STORY</span></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"> (Dirs. Robert Bralver & David Ferino, 2011) Again, it's time for the final slot rock doc. I know some of the music of the '90s alternative Boston band, but never really delved deep into their discography. This film makes me want to as it's a throbbing mix of concert footage, interviews, and TV appearances that make a convincing case for the genius of front-man Mark Sandman. </span></span></div><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">I always wondered what really went down when Sandman died during a performance in Italy in 1999, and this film touchingly tells me. CURE FOR PAIN doesn't break any new ground for music docs, but it's a excellent portrait of a man who believed he only needed a 2-string bass slide bass guitar, a sultry vocal, drums, and a baritone sax to make incredible music. And he was right.</span></span></div><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">My only complaint was that a lot of the material used was of fuzzy deteriorated VHS video (like from <em>Late Night With Conan O'Brien</em> and <em>The Jon Stewart Show</em> of which you know better quality versions exist. However, as a friend said "Morphine was always a very lo-fi band."</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span"></span><br /><div><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">There was a Q & A after, but I was fading fast so I left to drive back to Raleigh and write this. Please check back for coverage of days 3 & 4.</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span"></span><br /><div><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:180%;">More later...</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2532236956481712723.post-51115790464888975482011-04-15T00:18:00.000-07:002011-07-05T11:20:32.726-07:00Full Frame Documentary Film Festival 2011: Day One<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiobafjGpOQtJ0Lu21dXBTS0cS1vM7w82E1_HaG-tyUAJCL8OdsUY5oN5y1va2CNF_yS91aBGxego1gGOvlPfWjP5YcbZ3CxniglP32xHZH1Tnu1G2WqcsSTdVIlOTpMIorT4qhgFxA9OA/s1600/004.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 249px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5595693672018913858" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiobafjGpOQtJ0Lu21dXBTS0cS1vM7w82E1_HaG-tyUAJCL8OdsUY5oN5y1va2CNF_yS91aBGxego1gGOvlPfWjP5YcbZ3CxniglP32xHZH1Tnu1G2WqcsSTdVIlOTpMIorT4qhgFxA9OA/s400/004.JPG" /></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Well, it's that time of year again - time for the 14th Annual </span><a href="http://www.fullframefest.org/"><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Full Frame Documentary Film Festival</span></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"> in, and around the Carolina Theatre in downtown Durham.</span><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: left"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"></span></div><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Of course, I'm only gonna be able to see a very small amount of the 100 or so films over the 4-day run of the fest, but I think I've made some good choices.</span></div><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Here's what I saw today:</span></div><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1700803/"><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">EVERYBODY'S NUTS</span></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> <b><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-size:85%;">(Dir. Fabian Euresti, 2010)</span> </span></b></span></span></span><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 18px;font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;" class="Apple-style-span">This 14 minute short concerns immigrant farm laborers in the San Joaquin Valley, California. Oil has contaminated the water supply, and worker's lives as well as livelihoods are threatened. Over still shots of the terrain, the film's auteur Euresti, who hails from the Californian area, plainly narrates. His conclusion that tells us that the title doesn't mean what we think it does is affecting, but the film is too vague to fully </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 21px; line-height: 18px; ">engage. It's spare length is thinking in the right direction though.</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 21px;"><br /></span><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNEFcJIeU57iUBr7XZIpWwGHxQf94XxQf6BadMImMgPU7vQf4Tg9AsHedrKZPFmGnyJdZu0o9VCtQUSRQHHL6moh7Y1SVbS2YkawwWdod5opEqEE2wx6gcXnwKpp4aTBGkK0VinB8z1xY/s400/harvest.jpg" style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 186px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 146px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5595690820238534338" border="0" alt="" /><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="http://www.vimeo.com/6610039"><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">HARVEST/LA COSECHA</span></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:85%;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:85%;">(Dir. U. Roberto Romano, 2011)</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span"> Also about immigrant workers, this close to </span></span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span class="Apple-style-span">full length feature (80 minutes) has the opposite problem - it's overlong, repetitive, and a bit strained. Still, its story of 3 child laborers who spend more time in the fields picking crops than in their classrooms, is expertly filmed with a lot of genuine heart. </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">The film makers including Romano, and EVERYBODY'S NUTS director Euresti were on hand at a Q & A following. An audience member made </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:130%;">a great point about photos and text that appeared in the end credits of HARVEST of former child laborers who've gone on to have successful lives. The film maker interestingly agreed that it sent the wrong message and wants that element removed.</span></span></span></div><br /><div><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1715802/"><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">HOW TO DIE IN OREGON</span></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:85%;">(Dir. Peter Richardson, 2011)</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></span></span></div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><span style="font-size:130%;"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 259px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5595693217427948082" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjDl0UmGueZov3hZOiB7hK3f8NhaU4XMeXpKF7SkJ38jhG1eaRtqgbci4Aal6kGDCxSEHc_G1dHERMn7nxPqd5cZTZV8D8mCqnd_O3EZ1UTF9tT3iyo8sPeBK0cfmJnM6jmHg1e2M22h8/s400/how-to-die-in-oregon-movie-image-01.jpg" /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';font-size:130%;">A truly great documentary about an extremely painful and controversial subject - Oregon's "Death With Dignity Act" which allows physician assisted suicide. Richardson, who appeared at an after film Q & A, aims his lenses at several patients dealing with disease who've made the decision to take their lives.</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span"></span><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">The film is dominated by Cody Curtis, a 54-year old mother of two, who is suffering from liver cancer. Curtis's aplomb, and her intense yet sharp questioning of her situation leads to some heavy philosophical moments, but more to heavy tears. I've never heard more people sob at a movie before, and I have to admit my eyes weren't dry either. </span></div><span class="Apple-style-span"></span><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">There are times that it felt like maybe Richardson's camera was being too intrusive, but the director touched upon that in his comments afterwards, and his handling of the heartbreaking conclusion is admirable. Look for this when it airs on HBO this summer.</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span"></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 202px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 202px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5595692832959807666" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKQV4xlSeV5lXBak49_H8TrtjDpOJKHT3uuHuS3qGKh2naVIxF8N8KFGK1CcsmW9W9sM6hYeNo7n3I8KL9CDJ8nLD2QoLWzfAAjUd-Phdq1Wnd4RbvmMHY7lJEVb3yyyb5h_idky8A1D8/s400/guilty-pleasures.jpg" /> </span><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1753881/"><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">GUILTY PLEASURES</span></a><span style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span style="font-size:130%;"> <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:85%;">(Dir. Julie Moggan, 2010)</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span class="Apple-style-span">A light fluffy, but very funny film that revels in the world of romance novels. It focuses on a British author (Roger Sanderson) who writes under the name Gill Anderson, book cover </span><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 17px" class="Apple-style-span">model Stephen Muzzonigro, a woman in India (Shumita Didi Singh), a Japanese woman (Hiroko Honmo), and a </span><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 17px" class="Apple-style-span">Warrington woman (Shirley Davies) </span><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 17px" class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span">who all may be too immersed in the fantasies they read.</span></span></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span"></span><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">It's amusingly edited with a lot of great quotes such as Sanderson's "marriage is the price men pay for sex, and sex is the price women pay for marriage." The audience appeared to love model Muzzonigro the most - his new age speak, the foodgasms he has everytime he eats, and the air-headed way he carries himself, all went over endearingly. When the man appeared with director Moggan for the following Q & A, moderated by "Big Fish" author Daniel Wallace, the applause was deafening.</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span"></span><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1670992/"><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">WHO TOOK THE BOMP? LE TIGRE ON TOUR</span></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:85%;">(Dir. Kerthy Fix, 2010)</span></b></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span"></span><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">The final slot of the night is a great one for a rock documentary (or rockumentary, if you will), and this is a great one.</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 21px;"><br /></span><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmITtJV9LULtHomT2DANE-RLDD199OxS1f0_ShUel5a1rroj5qWL4iH6CR4BN7jcBIlo4JHrdFxHCbkJ4PWdPTlD7V08caDLSB1J5FZNCtPH3O31deipQEeiHU06rtD7AC0nv066rbJhU/s400/110319_letigregroup.jpg" style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 248px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 184px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5595692351275387874" border="0" alt="" /><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Kerthy Fix, who last year presented the festival with the excellent </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1534075/"><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">STRANGE POWERS: STEPHIN MERRITT AND THE MAGNETIC FIELDS</span></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">, molded this tight 72 minute film out of 60 hours of concert footage filmed by the band's lighting designer Carmine Covelli. Not knowing much about Le Tigre, I was fascinated by their energy and politics - founder Kathleen Hanna describes them as "a self consciously feminist band" - and loved how full songs were included albeit edited together from different concerts. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Fix did Q & A duty after the movie.</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span"></span><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">WHO TOOK THE BOMP? is going to have an outdoor encore presentation at Durham Central Park, Saturday, April 16th at 8:30 PM. No ticket is required as it's free admission.</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span"></span><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Okay! Well, that's all for now. It was a fine opening day of documentaries - the only complaint I have is that they need a new animated film to play before the features. They've been using the same one the last few years and I'm tired of it.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:180%;"><span class="Apple-style-span">More later...</span><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2532236956481712723.post-91084372167791377942011-04-12T10:58:00.000-07:002011-07-05T11:20:32.726-07:00HANNA: The Film Babble Blog Review<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:180%;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0993842/">HANNA</a></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> <b><span class="Apple-style-span">(Dir. Joe Wright, 2011)</span></b></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span><b><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" ><b><br /></b></span> <span class="Apple-style-span"></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 261px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5594775808350375842" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwV4iy1CP0ZAIzaepWrmxid8U5f1G1WA_0TKBm0nc9HkGaXDclDtQgVNMgArc2p-ou-q5gaoXUztCZV1pZ75W5gJhJEz1ARJbXpz28HPPD4PBPr_CPzb3o70E-gIkgvQH3UDJ4RK_jzIE/s400/hanna.jpg" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Little girls kicking ass – we need more of that, right?</span> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span class="Apple-style-span">This movie seems to think so. It introduces Saoirse Ronan as the title character as she stalks an elk in an icy forest in Finland. She takes it down with a bow and arrow, but the animal still breathes as it lies on the ice in front of her.</span> </span></span><br /><div><div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">"I just missed your heart," Ronan says and then she produces a gun to finish off her prey.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Giant white letters on red announce HANNA, and we're off. </span><span class="Apple-style-span">Ronan lives in a cabin in the woods with her father (Eric Bana) who is training her to be a lethal assassin, complete with aliases and backstories. </span><span class="Apple-style-span">Bana tells her that if she flips a switch on a transmitter he has, the CIA will instantly know their location and immediately come to capture them.</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Ronan, with fierce determination, flips it saying "come and get me."</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Bana escapes, but Ronan is apprehended (not without a struggle, of course), taken to a safe house in Morrocco, and monitored by an evil CIA agent (Cate Blanchett, who appears to have modeled her American accent on Glenn Close).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Like Angelina Jolie in SALT, we are shown how bad ass Ronan is from how she can fight and kill her way out of a maximum security compound, so Blanchett and her men don't have the girl for very long.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Ronan hitches a ride with a family of tourists that includes a chatty teenage girl (Jessica Barden), and her parents (Jason Flemyng and Olivia Williams), as thugs led by the suave whistling Tom Hollander are closing in on her.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Also like in SALT, we learn that our protagonist is the result of a project to develop CIA super-operatives by altering their DNA.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">This can't really be a Spoiler! can it? I mean I felt like a scenario like that was in place before I walked in.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">The only surprise I can think of is that it's not based on some graphic novel.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">HANNA has a real drive to it because of its incredible Chemical Brothers soundtrack. At first I thought it was going to be blah techno backing a la RUN LOLA RUN (which is definitely an influence), but it broadens into an immersive ultra-melodic experience full of snappy electronic beats, throbbing baselines, and eery vocalizing. It keep my feet a tapping throughout, and I had to download the soundtrack the second I got home.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Otherwise, I was a little bored by the familiarness of the action sequences (Lord knows we don't need another subway platform fight in which a single man lays out a gang of heavies), and often felt the film seemed like it was stitched together from other movies (a little KILL BILL here, a little LEON: THE PROFESSIONAL there, a bit of BOURNE, some of the before mentioned RUN LOLA RUN, and sprinkled with SALT obviously.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Ronan compellingly carries the film; her performance undoubtedly tops her work in ATONEMENT (directed by Joe Wright), and THE LOVELY BONES. It's a tough character to pull off convincingly, but she makes it seem effortless.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Blanchett and Bana acquit themselves well in their roles, but neither part is very distinctive or affecting. Their fates don't really seem to matter much.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Still, HANNA is enough of a riveting ride to recommend, and it sports the year's best soundtrack so far. If only it had more humanity, and inspired invention to it.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">As anything but a serviceable on-the-surface action thriller, HANNA just misses the heart.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:180%;">More later...</span></p></div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0