BRIDESMAIDS: The Film Babble Blog Review

BRIDESMAIDS (Dir. Paul Feig, 2011)

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, Kristen Wiig nails exactly what’s funny about her.

Lately Wiig has been so overused on Saturday Night Live 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.

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.

As a former bakery owner turned jaded jewelry store clerk whose life is going steadily downhill, we first meet Wiig in bed with Mad Men’s Jon Hamm in the funniest sex scene since TEAM AMERICA.

Hamm is, in his own words on Conan, 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.

Wiig’s best friend since childhood Maya Rudolph 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.

There are shades of Wiig’s Penelope character from SNL, 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.

The other bridesmaids that make up the wacky wedding group are Reno 911’s Wendy McLendon-Covey, The Office’s Ellie Kemper, and Mike and Molly’s Melissa McCarthy whose abrasive fearless performance comes close to stealing the movie, as funny as Wiig is.

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 (Chris O’Dowd) tops it. I really can’t explain how this comes about – you’ve just got to see it for yourself.

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 Jill Clayburgh as Wiig’s ditzy celebrity portrait painting mother.

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).

There are more laugh out loud moments than I can count, and Freaks and Geekscreator Feig (who also helmed episodes of Mad Men, 30 Rock, The Office, and Arrested Development BTW) does a great job shaping the material written by Wiig and Annie Mumolo with a touching tone and, for the most part, great timing.

And coming from the Judd Apatow production line it’s a welcome change from the usual boy’s club fare.

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.

More later...

DVD Review: BEHIND THE BURLY Q

BEHIND THE BURLY Q (Dir. Leslie Zemeckis, 2010)

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.

"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.

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.

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."

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."

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.

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").

"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.

I can't think of a better recommendation for a historical documentary than that.

Bonus Features: Three Featurettes: "The Reunion", "Memorabillia & Costumes", and "Behind The Scenes." Bonus Interviews, Burlesque Timeline, Photo Gallery, and the Original Theatrical Trailer.

More later...

THOR: The Film Babble Blog Review

THOR (Dir. Kenneth Branaugh, 2011)

(Warning: This review may contain Spoilers!)

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 Marvel Cinematic Universe: THOR.

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?

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.

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).

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.

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 (much more animated than in YOUR HIGHNESS), a befuddled Stellan Skarsgård, and the wise-cracking Kat Dennings - who take him in as they just happen to be up on Nordic mythology.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 Clint Barton/Hawkeye, 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.

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.

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.

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.

More later...

DVD Review: SQUARE GROUPER

SQUARE GROUPER: THE GODFATHERS OF GANJA (Dir. Billy Corben, 2011)

I missed this when it was screened last month at Full Frame so I was happy to get a copy in the mail the day after the Festival.

“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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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”).

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.

In the words of a stoner: SQUARE GROUPER is killer shit.

SQUARE GROUPER is now available on DVD. According to the Netflix website it will be available streaming soon.

More later...

OF GODS AND MEN: The Film Babble Blog Review

OF GODS AND MEN (Dir. Xavier Beauvois, 2010)

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.

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.

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."

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.

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.

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.

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.

More later...

THE CONSPIRATOR: The Film Babble Blog Review

THE CONSPIRATOR (Dir. Robert Redford, 2010)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

More later...

SUPER: The Film Babble Blog Review

SUPER (Dir. James Gunn, 2010)

Add The Crimson Bolt to the growing list of superheroes that aren't really superheroes.



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. However, the tone of SUPER is completely different. 





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. 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.



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.



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.



  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? 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. It's an unamusing assault on the senses with a flimsy conclusion. 





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.



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. Oh, I almost forgot the odd cameo by Nathan Fillion (Firefly, Castle) as a Christian superhero named the Holy Avenger that Rainn is inspired by when watching him on an religious cable channel. 





Really don't know what the point of that means either. 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. 





I guess those are fitting reactions to a film written and directed by the guy who wrote the live action SCOOBY-DOO movies. 





More later...