Okay, I promised some music reviews last week and didn't post any so here goes :
You could not come up with 2 concert films that are more different from each other than NEIL YOUNG : HEART OF GOLD and AWESOME! I FUCKIN' SHOT THAT! Jonathan Demme's work documenting Young's 2005 Ryman Auditorium performance is straight-forward and polished muc
h like the music it presents. I'm far from a hardcore Young fan - I have I guess what you'd call the essential discs ("Harvest", "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere", "After The Gold Rush", "Rust Never Sleeps", etc.). have seen him live a few times, but over the years have drifted away from his newer releases because of too many same-sounding songs. A few songs into the show - that complaint melts away. With a large band of ace players (including Emmyloo Harris, Dan Penn, Spooner Oldham, and wife Pegi Young) Neil plays the Prairie Wind album in its entirety then a smattering of crowd pleasing hits (like the title song especially) and it all sounds sweet to these ears. The DVD has some cool extras most notably a clip of Young on The Johnny Cash Show in 1970. Man, they need to release that show in full!
AWESOME! I FUCKIN' SHOT THAT! throws out the traditional approach and goes for the jugular - 50 fans are given Hi-8 and digital-video cameras to a Madison Square Garden Beastie Boys show and Adam Yauch's alter ego Nathaniel Hornblower edits together all their footage into one of the most rowdy, renograde, in your face concert films ever. One of the camera people even films his trip to the bathroom! Whatever your opinion of the Beastie's music this film is a lot of fun to watch - the split screens, the fast cutting, the wide range of angles, and the sense that the whole arena was pumping and pounding. It does drag a bit at times - the trance instrumental set wasn't as exciting as other bits but this inventive and punchy concert flick definitely deserves the right to, you know...party.
The best music documentary since Scorcese's NO DIRECTION HOME : BOB DYLAN in my book (or more accurately on my blog) is definitely THE DEVIL AND DANIEL JOHNSTON. Funny, disturbing, and never dull - the story of bipolar Beatles-obsessed quirky songwriting Devil-fearing Johnston is told by his extensive archive of home made films, audio-cassette diaries, magic marker drawings, and interviews with family and friends. The overwhelming amount available of Johnston's self documentation pours out of the movie and into the bonus features on the DVD - it takes quite a bit to get through all of it but it is worth every second.More later...
The IMDB reported this the other day -
"Oscar-winning screenwriter and director Steve Zaillian was clearly stunned by the critical and box-office failure of his latest film, ALL THE KING'S MEN, which opened with only $3.8 million in its debut and fell out of the top-ten in its second weekend. Zaillian told the Los Angeles Times that it was "like getting hit by a truck. ... I don't know what to make of it. Maybe down the road I'll figure it out".
Well maybe I can help figure it out - Since it is leaving my home
town theater after a barely attended 2 ween run I decided to see the movie last night and it is one of the most boring movies I've ever seen!! Not since I almost went into a coma watching HOFFA has my time in the theater been so deadly dull. Hard to say exactly where Zaillian and crew went wrong - it is well photographed, the screenplay hits the right points, and the cast is A-list (Sean Penn, Anthony Hopkins, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Patricia Clarkson, etc.) - it just doesn't work. Most critics have blamed Sean Penn's overwrought performance and yes it is true he does deserve to be one of the patients in Monty Python's Hospital For The Over-Acting sketch but the blame lies elsewhere I believe.
I got the original 1949 version of ALL THE KING'S MEN (Dir. Robert Rossen) from Netflix and watched it this morning. It had won the best picture Oscar and for good reason - it is a good well crafted interesting exercise in good taste and restraint. Everything the re-make tries in vain for the original accomplishes with much more class. I'll take Broderick Crawford's believably flawed Willie Stark over Sean Penn's wretched over-the-top spastic Willie Stark any day.
So it was just another unnecessary remake. I can't think of one worthwhile remake that has been produced lately. Can you?
More later...
"So many social engagements, so little time."
- Gale (John Goodman) RAISING ARIZONA (Dir. Joel Coen 1987)
Yeah - lots going on. Recent theatrical releases, new releases on video, and some notable music DVDs need to be blogged 'bout but this time out I'll just deal with the last few movies I saw at the theater :
THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP (Dir. Michael Gondry) Many many movies have been about earnest yet clumsily romantic young artists who live fuller in their dreams than in reality. Gael Garcia Bernal fills the part with wide eyed likeability though unfortunately the flimsy sitcom premise doesn't sustain the big picture. The wonderfully fluid dream sequences will no doubt make this a cult favorite in years to come but it feels like a rough draft. The relationship between Stephane (Bernal) and Stephanie (Charlotte Gainsburg) doesn't sparkle and the uneven narrative doesn't help - I feel like a good 20-30 minutes could be edited out and the flow would improve greatly. Still, with the amount of unadventurous crap out there, THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP shouldn't be ignored or dismissed by film babblers like me - visually it is a beautiful film, so I'll conclude : flawed but worthwhile.
THE ILLUSIONIST (Dir. Neil Burger) Based on the short story Eisenheim the Illusionist. However, I heard Eisenheim (played by Edward Norton) through the accents sound like 'Asinine' as if thats what the characters name would be in a crude Mad magazine satire. Not that this flick is asinine - no its a fairly entertaining period piece mildly marred from unecessary and purposely unexplained special effects and a twist ending right out of THE USUAL SUSPECTS. Norton puts in a stoic and strangely unenergetic performance and Paul Giamatti chews scenery as a Chief Inspector intent on figuring out Eisenheim's tricks while Jessica Biel provides the elusive love interest. Maybe the real illusion the movie pulls off is that it is better than mediocre - it's not but at times you'll think it is.
HOLLYWOODLAND (Dir. Allen Coulter) If I were still in quick quotable blurb mode like in my last post I might be tempted to just write "Hollywoodbland!" but that, like the Asinine the Illusionist in the review above is just silly non-criticism and definitively inaccurate. While I agree with the Onion AV Club that this feels like an HBO original movie and 
concur with the New York Times that it "tells several stories, one of them reasonably well", I enjoyed the performances and bought into the boulevard of broken dreams pathos. Having watched the reruns of '50's TV Superman starring George Reeves as a kid I appreciated that they nailed the look and style in the recreations. Adrian Brody does solid work as the gumshoe hired to solve the mystery of Reeves headline making suicide and we switch back and forth in time from him to Ben Affleck's surprisingly note-perfect portrayal of Reeves in the events leading up to his death. If not remarkable HOLLYWOODLAND is a decent pointed period piece, I'm not sure if I'm on board with the film's implications in it's conclusion - involving mistress Diane Lane and her jealous studio boss husband Bob Hoskins but that doesn't make it ring hollow.
Hmmm, I'm sensing a trend here - I mean I just babbled 'bout 3 movies that were neither great nor awful just decent. I hope we're just in summer to fall transition and the movies will get much better or at least more interesting. We've got some possibilities coming with THE DEPARTED, FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION, STRANGER THAN FICTION, and RUNNING WITH SCISSORS, but no breath holding here.
Some more babble 'bout some concert films and a notable documentary when film babble returns...
More later...
"When will this rotten summer end? In a film, it'd already be over. Fade-out, cut to storm. Wouldn't that be great?" - Salvatore (Marco Leonard) CINEMA PARADISO 1989
Dog days indeed. Lame ass movie season to cover - I mean I saw PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN : DEAD MAN'S CHEST weeks ago and had no inclination to write about it. I mean I would just be repeating what so many others have said - its too long, a series of action pieces in search of a story, just a set-up for a third movie, etc. Damn I went and repeated that crap anyway. Sigh. Anyway - what else have I seen? Hmmm...
CLERKS 2 (Dir. Kevin Smith) Things start off promising - a great Talking Heads song ("Nothing But Flowers") accompanies Dante (Brian O'Halloran) on his drive to his new place of employment after the infamous Quick Stop burns down. Once we settle with him and obnoxious side-kick Randal (Jeff Anderson) into Mooby's, a bad parody of a McDonalds-style fast food joint, we get stale dialogue and half assed acting with no semblance of artistic justification. Smith fans will think I'm being a prude but I
was seriously bored by this material. In particular the Jay and Silent Bob (Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith respectively) characters have been done to death - they were fine as first time out creations by a talented novice filmmaker but after 6 movies, a series of comic books, and a cartoon show for Christ sakes they have long ago jumped the shark *. This time however Kevin Smith doesn't just jump the shark - he fucks the shark and gives it ass to mouth. A new addition to the worse sequels of all time for sure.
* For those who don't understand the "jumping the shark" reference please consult this amusing Wikipedia entry.
SCOOP (Dir. Woody Allen) Much more enjoyable than MATCH POINT and definitely funnier than his last few flicks - too bad that's not saying much. Continuing his supposed simultaneous cinematic love affair with both Scarlet Johansen and London we're in fluffy territory here - think MANHATTAN MURDER MYSTERY crossed with the jokey supernatural ALICE and the supremely underrated NEW YORK STORIES segment and you've got SCOOP. Hugh Jackman plays the would be murderer while Ian McShane guides the action from beyond the grave - from a boat captained by the grim reaper - yeah that bit doesn't really work but it doesn't get in the way of this fairly decent, fairly funny, just plain fair Woody Allen film.
More later...
"I happen to love this country. You know, we're not a bunch of zanies trying to bring it down!"
- Harry Rosenfeld (Jack Warner - ALL THE PRESIDENTS MEN, 1976)
“Gruff but lovable” may be a cliched description befitting many a character actor but it seems today like it was coined solely for Jack Warden. Warden, who died in a New York hospital a few days ago of heart and kidney failure at 85, leaves behind 50 years of TV and movie work including Oscar nominated turns in 2 of Warren Beatty’s seminal 70’s films – SHAMPOO and HEAVEN CAN WAIT, a gracefully befuddled President in BEING THERE, and acted as newspaper editor over not only reporters Woodward and Bernstein (Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman in ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN) but also performed the same task over reporters Kermit, Fozzie and Gonzo (THE GREAT MUPPET CAPER).
A former boxer, Warden epitomized the best friend/mentor role in many films. If a movie needed a rough on the outside – soft on the inside coach, agent, former army man, or any weathered wizened figure of authority he was the go-to guy. A few TV shows tried to bottle his charisma – he took Walter Matthau’s role on the short lived BAD NEWS BEARS TV show and had a 4 year run as a wacky detective on CRAZY LIKE A FOX but it is his film work that will be his true legacy. That is if we respectfully forget the dreck –like his appearances in all 3 PROBLEM CHILD movies for instance.
In memory of one of the greatest character actors in film history here’s 5 Essential JACK WARDEN film roles :
1. Mickey Morrissey (THE VERDICT Dir. Sydney Lumet 1982) The ultimate best friend/collegue part played to perfection. His raised voice advice to 
his tragically flawed lawyer friend Frank (Paul Newman) - "He's a good man? Heh, he's the Prince of fucking Darkness! He'll have people testifying they saw her waterskiing up in Marblehead last summer. Frank, don't fuck with this case!"
2. Roy L. Fuchs/Luke Fuchs (USED CARS, Dir. Robert Zemeckis 1980) Sure this is a rude crude barely memorable Kurt Russell vehicle (didn't mean to make that pun) but Warden plays two roles - brothers. One good/one bad - the evil twin premise in early glory.
3. Judge Francis Rayford (...AND JUSTICE FOR ALL Dir. Norman Jewison, 1979) His crazy helicopter-piloting Judge character was an effortless yet edgy piece of work. Crusty insights abound as evidenced in this exchange with yet another disallusioned lawyer : Judge Rayford - "I found out what the meaning of life is." Arthur Kirkland (Al Pacino) - "What's that?" Judge Rayford - "It sucks."
4. Julian Marx (BULLETS OVER BROADWAY Dir. Woody Allen, 1994) Warden did great work in 3 Woody Allen movies (the others being SEPTEMBER & MIGHTY APHRODITE) but his timing and presence as theater producer Julian Marx makes this list for ace delivery of lines like : "That dame doesn't have a nerve in her body. I don't think her spinal cord touches her brain."
5. Harry Rosenfeld (ALL THE PRESIDENTS MEN Dir. Alan J. Pakula 1976) Famous Washington Post editor Rosenfeld was a great fit for Warden's mentoring mania - admonishing Woodward (Robert Redford) - "Sit down. You know I'm glad you asked me that question. The reason I'm glad you asked me is because if you had asked Simons or Bradlee they woulda said, "You know we're gonna have to fire this schmuck at once because he's so dumb". His brisk appointing was classic Warden as well - "Woodward. Bernstein. You're both on the story. Now don't fuck it up!"
R.I.P. JACK WARDEN 9/18/20 - 07/19/06
More later...
Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth) : But millions will die!
Lex Luthor (Kevin Spacey) : Billions! Once again, the press underestimates me.
- SUPERMAN RETURNS (Dir. Bryan Singer 2006)
SUPERMAN RETURNS is one of the only Summer blockbusters I was interested in seeing (don't really care as much for PIRATES or X-MEN) and I'm happy to say it didn't disappoint. Its no SPIDERMAN by any means but its a highly enjoyable piece of pop art that stands up with the first 2 movies. When I originally heard that this project over a decade in the making was going to be based in the world of the 1978 SUPERMAN : THE MOVIE right down to the resemblance of Brandon Routh to Christopher Reeve and the appearance of Marlon Brando in old outtake footage needless to say I was a bit worried - I mean the recent TV shows LOIS AND CLARK and SMALLVILLE (both of which I've never regularly watched) created new modern premises and styles to house the Superman legend so why wasn't this return going to be its own new thing?
It turns out that the retro-lets-pick-up-the-story-as-if-SUPERMAN 3 & 4 (no need to link to these attrocities) never happened is the best thing about SUPERMAN RETURNS. The John Williams theme still has majestic power and the epic tone is fully revived. Kevin Spacey is a suitable replacement for Gene Hackman as Luther though his new land scheme plan is a bit silly. Nice casting abounds - Kate Bosworth, Parker Posey, and Frank Lagella are all spot on. The film is dedicated to both Reeve and his wife Dana which like just about everything else I've mentioned is a nice touch.More later...
h like the music it presents. I'm far from a hardcore Young fan - I have I guess what you'd call the essential discs ("Harvest", "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere", "After The Gold Rush", "Rust Never Sleeps", etc.). have seen him live a few times, but over the years have drifted away from his newer releases because of too many same-sounding songs. A few songs into the show - that complaint melts away. With a large band of ace players (including Emmyloo Harris, Dan Penn, Spooner Oldham, and wife Pegi Young) Neil plays the Prairie Wind album in its entirety then a smattering of crowd pleasing hits (like the title song especially) and it all sounds sweet to these ears. The DVD has some cool extras most notably a clip of Young on The Johnny Cash Show in 1970. Man, they need to release that show in full!
AWESOME! I FUCKIN' SHOT THAT! throws out the traditional approach and goes for the jugular - 50 fans are given Hi-8 and digital-video cameras to a Madison Square Garden Beastie Boys show and Adam Yauch's alter ego Nathaniel Hornblower edits together all their footage into one of the most rowdy, renograde, in your face concert films ever. One of the camera people even films his trip to the bathroom! Whatever your opinion of the Beastie's music this film is a lot of fun to watch - the split screens, the fast cutting, the wide range of angles, and the sense that the whole arena was pumping and pounding. It does drag a bit at times - the trance instrumental set wasn't as exciting as other bits but this inventive and punchy concert flick definitely deserves the right to, you know...party.
The best music documentary since Scorcese's NO DIRECTION HOME : BOB DYLAN in my book (or more accurately on my blog) is definitely THE DEVIL AND DANIEL JOHNSTON. Funny, disturbing, and never dull - the story of bipolar Beatles-obsessed quirky songwriting Devil-fearing Johnston is told by his extensive archive of home made films, audio-cassette diaries, magic marker drawings, and interviews with family and friends. The overwhelming amount available of Johnston's self documentation pours out of the movie and into the bonus features on the DVD - it takes quite a bit to get through all of it but it is worth every second.
