First Friday Films | Take Eight

First Friday Films | Take Eight




It's been a while since I've written a First Friday Films post. It's not that I haven't seen any movies, it's just that with my travel schedule I haven't seen many and haven't had time to post about the few I have seen. Until now. Here is a handful of opinions, re: the last few months of silver screen offerings.

Die Falscher (The Counterfeiters)
Just when you think all the stories that can possibly be told about WWII Nazi concentration camps have been told (and over-told, in fact, by Hollywood)...you see The Counterfeiters. What a fascinating story. The movie wasn't blow-you-away awesome, but it's more than solid and it's a compelling story.

Select Jewish prisoners were recruited into an elite cohort assigned to produce the dollar and the pound (a few of the prisoners were criminal counterfeiters before the war). The Nazi's goal was to produce enough money to flood and shut down the US and British economies. They got pretty close, actually, and that's the fascinating part. That and the clinical way the film addressed the minutia of the counterfeiting processes. I learned a lot. I also enjoyed watching the interpersonal dynamics of the Nazi soldiers and the Jewish counterfeiters. Nothing is ever as black and white and people want you to believe. Ultimately the story was very human and I'd recommend checking it out.

Then She Found Me
Indulgent and way too earnest. That criticism out of my system, I didn't hate the film. The acting was top notch, the plot was interesting (39-year old woman working to define herself and her life, recently divorced, wants a baby), and I like watching romantic movies about real adults with real problems. Read also: No more chasing down the taxi cab in a rainstorm to stop her from getting on the plane followed by a gratuitously soft focus sex scene where all is perfectly perfect. Blech. Enough. I detest chick flicks, as it were, and at least Then She Found Me avoids the cliches altogether. Every character is stripped down to their most elemental, lost, struggling reality. It's just that their struggling reality was a bit melodramatic for my taste.

This film is Helen Hunt's directorial debut (she also plays the lead, April Epner). She was working with a script adapted from a book - so I don't entirely blame her for the indulgent earnestness. I left the theatre feeling tired and emotionally beat up, even though - spoiler - all does end well. If all of that rambling turns you off to the film, two words: Colin. Firth. Firth plays Frank, the single father of two slash love interest of April. He delivers an incredible performance. I would watch it all over again just to see him scream at April and put her in her place and in a moment of weakness and clarity, express how hard and undesirable fatherhood can be. Fantastic. He is fan-tas-tic. (No, your eyes aren't playing tricks on you. Salman Rushdie is Helen Hunt's gyno)

27 Dresses
I know. I know. I just prattled on about my dislike for chick flicks, but there's just something about this movie I can't get over. I think it has a lot to do with the awesome chemistry between Katherine Heigl and James Marsden. When they spend the afternoon together and she tries on all of her dresses, it's painfully cheesy and yet it's so adorable for some reason. I can't stop smiling and I even laugh out loud when they rock the small town bar with a drunken rendition of "Benny and the Jets." The movie is formulaic and predictable, but there's something about it that I relate to and enjoy.

The Jane Austen Book Club
Loved, loved, loved this movie...even though I have really mixed feeling about Jane Austen. My English degree gives me the unique pleasure of, even these many years post-college, spending sleepless nights wrestling with the following dilemma: trailblazing-feminist or mindlessly-narrow-world-view? Both camps of lit critics are equally passionate about their positions and I'm still sitting on the proverbial fence (though both feet are dangling on the side NOT belonging to trailblazing-feminist). My lack of militant fanticism makes cocktail party convos with Austenite girlfriends quite challenging. This is my life. Moving on.

Being a huge fan of ensemble casts, I clearly loved having nine main characters floating in and around each other's lives. The pretense is that a book club forms with the express purpose of reading one Austen novel each month. Of course you called it, the plot of each book resembles the life of the chosen monthly host. It is surprisingly subtle, however, and not at all didactic, as I thought it might be. It's funny and sexy and though the whole ensemble is strong, Emily Blunt and Hugh Dancy definitely steal the show.

I will admit a moment of weakness where I felt the urge to re-read all of Austen's novels. That desire soon passed, as quickly as any nauseous dizzy spell can be expected to, and I settled instead on wanting to read the novel on which this film is based. Or maybe I'll just Redbox the movie again.

Iron Man
Silly boys. Silly, silly boys with silly toys. The metaphors in this film are so phallic I can barely stand it, so I'll instead let you read Andrew's thoughts on the matter. I want to be fair to the movie, but I can't see the forest for the phallus. I will say that I enjoyed it for what it was, a summer blockbuster at it's best (which doesn't set the bar too high in my world, but whatever). I will also say that Robert Downey Jr. is perfection and absolutely no one but him could have pulled this off. I will further say that super hero movies have become way too self-important and the pretentiousness has to stop somewhere. I don't know that future script writers and directors are paying attention, but I hope that somewhere is the precedent Iron Man sent. Just be funny and blow stuff up. You're not actually saving the world. Relax.

Young@Heart
What's not to love about 80-year-olds singing The Ramones and Sonic Youth? Honestly. This movie will make you laugh out loud, cry, sing, cheer, the premiere audience I was in stood up at the end in spontaneous clapping and shouts of joy. For real. You can't help it. It's such a celebration of life and living each day to the fullest...you cannot stay in your seat.

The Young@Heart Chorus travels around the country (and Europe) performing hit songs from (roughly) the 70s through today, everything from Rolling Stones to Radiohead. The documentary follows them through a series of rehearsals and a handful of performances. I love the entire movie, but I have two favorite moments.

The first moment is when the chorus performs "Forever Young" at a prison and the inmates are moved to tears and a standing ovation. The interactions among the performers and the prisoners are so beautiful. The second moment is the solo performance of "Fix You" (Cold Play). There are no words. Just see the movie...and then join me for their night in The SLC next Tuesday!



My Blueberry Nights
Jude Law. Yum. Norah Jones. Yum. Natalie Portman. Yum. David Strathrairn. Yum. Rachel Weisz. Yum. An amazing cast and one of the most tender movies I've seen in a long time. Norah Jones plays a recently heartbroken waitress who has a short-term-high-charge-albeit-platonic tete a tete with cafe owner Jude Law before she embarks on a year-long road trip to heal and get her mind right. While on the road she befriends Natalie Portman, an out-of-luck gambler and con artist, and David Strathrairn, an alcoholic police officer suffering a difficult separation from his wife who's publicly moving on.

The way the movie is filmed, the colors, the angles, the editing, is all incredibly art house. I love it. Amazing. A charming touch is that the communication between Jude Law and Norah Jones, while she's on her soul-searching road trip and he's working in his New York cafe, is through hand-written post cards. There was something so nostalgic about that, insanely romantic. I sent a bunch of handwritten notes to my friends after watching this movie (...wish I was sending lovely letterpress notes to Jude Law, but whatever).

The Visitor
One of the best films I've seen. Ever. Not like recently, ever. It sneaks up on you and just when you think it's content to be charming and interesting and well made, it blows you out of the water and changes your life. Well, mine, anyway.

Walter is a widower who lives his life day to day, deeply lonely, by the book, no passion, no creative energy (think T.S. Eliot's Prufrock). He owns property in New York, in addition to his home in Connecticut. When he visits his New York property in order to attend a conference in the city, he comes home to find two strangers living there. Tarek (played by the insanely delicious Haaz Sleiman) is from Syria and his girlfriend, Zainab, is from Senegal. Tarek is a drummer and Zainab is an artist who makes jewelry. You probably see where this is going -- these two people, full of passion and creative energy, shake Walter's life to the core and he's never the same. The most magical movie moment of the year: Walter joining a drum circle in New York's Washington Square, full of life, smiling at Tarek, finding is groove, and radically changing his life from that moment on.

The film, in addition to prompting discussion about a life well lived, addresses the highly-charged issue of immigration. Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant and really difficult to watch. It's actually quite frustrating and the conclusion of the film still bothers me. It is as realistic as it could possibly be, and that's why it frustrates me: because the current state of our xenophobic policies and practices frustrate me. Whether you care to enter the debate on immigration policies or not, you should see this film and enter a dialogue about your passions and life's purpose. Even if that dialogue is with yourself.

Sex and the City
Yes, there's girly giggling about Manolo Blahnik and Louis Vuitton. Yes, there are stupid sexual puns spouted by Samantha. Yes, Carrie's voiceover narration is still forced and poorly written. Get over it already. This is a good movie and I'm tired of sounding like a tool defending it. SATC debuted with a box office killing of $55.7 million in two days, when Warner Brother's had only estimated $30 million. I'm only going to speak for myself, but I think the success is because we (meaning women (and a handful of gay men)) are excited to see a movie about adult women, with adult problems, who we completely relate to, but who also happen to live in some sort of fantasy fashion land of bi-costal friendships and penthouses on 5th Avenue. I think SATC strikes a good balance.

Driving home from the movie on opening day (that's right...opening day), I heard an awful review on NPR, and I don't mean the reviewer thought the film was awful (though he did), I mean the review itself was awful. Poorly written, narrowly conceived, and judgmental to the point of sounding ridiculous to anyone that had actually seen the movie (which the reviewer, go figure, had not). People harp on the graphic sex scenes. So don't take your 13-year-old neighbor to see it. People harp on the consumption and obsession of brand names. Enjoy the fashion or not, recognize that there's much more to the show. Furthermore, who said SATC had to be Citizen Kane, anyway?

Ultimately, the movie is about being fiercely loyal to your girlfriends. It's also about relationships and sex and life and kids and families and divorce and frivolous fashion, and wanting it all. It doesn't get more quintessentially GenX than that.

First Friday Films | Take Seven

First Friday Films Take Seven



Gone Baby Gone
I knew he had it in him. He showed us what he was capable of with Good Will Hunting; but then while his better half went about building a stellar body of work, he made Gigi and went tanning with JLo. To watch the special features of this DVD made me so happy. I've always wanted to believe that Ben Affleck was smarter than some of his decisions imply and knowing that he directed this film completely restores my faith. A large portion of credit goes to Dennis Lehane for writing a killer book.

Gone Baby Gone is a tense thriller/drama about a kidnapping, corrupt cops, drug dealers, and the chaos swirling around them all. I like Casey Affleck a lot and have always thought he has the chops to hold his own -- this film proves that. Casey's in the lead role of a young cop trying to do right, even when his version of "right" is highly controversial, and he plays it perfectly. It's set in gritty south Boston, where the Affleck's grew up, and so the authenticity is hard to debate. It's rough and crass and many locals were hired as the extras. I liked it a lot.

Sex and Breakfast
I'm about to make an assumption without Google-researching the hypothesis: this film was written and directed by those young annoyingly spoiled filmmakers who were born in and then never really left LA and their shallow version of "problems" is embarrassing to watch and difficult to take seriously. It's not easy to describe, but it you watch enough movies you can spot these Made in the Los Angeles Vacuum flicks from a mile away. Sex and Breakfast is a prime example of this genre. I'm not going to take the time to Google my assumption, so if it ends up that my theory is proven wrong, I apologize for being so mean.

I'll readily admit that I was sucker punched by the provocative title and beautiful actors. I like Macaulay Culkin and Eliza Dushku is astonishingly beautiful, what can I say? So the movie was interesting enough, but I have a really really hard time believing that outlandishly gorgeous couples in their young-twenties are serious enough and mature enough to seek counseling for their fledgling relationships (or rich enough, by the way, to live in impossibly hip and huge lofts in downtown LA...or paid for said therapy). The premise of the movie is that two such couples sign up for "group sex therapy" - which is to say orgies arranged by the therapist - and we're supposed to be enthralled by the tension of will or won't their relationships survive the night of group sex. I'm sorry, but beautiful people and provocative title or not, who cares?!

West Bank Story
Hysterical. Hysterical. Hysterical. It can't be described because it sounds insane and racist and offensive, but it's absolutely...hysterical. It's a short film that uses two fast food restaurants, and the arguments between the owners and employees, to symbolize the conflict between Israel and Palestine. Dueling falafel huts where every time the Jews say "hummus" it causes mass confusion because it sounds like "Hamas," song and dance numbers in the streets (a la West Side Story) detailing the love story of an Arab girl and an Israeli border guard, and a large brick wall built in between the two restaurants when the Israeli kitchen equipment encroaches on the Arab's property. It's a riot, it was an official Sundance selection, and it won an Oscar in 2006. Check it out!

The Other Boleyn Girl
I had this same feeling about Kite Runner: the unfulfilled longing for an amazing movie on par with an amazing novel. It's not that Kite Runner is bad, because I liked it, and it's not that The Other Boleyn Girl is bad, because I liked it too; it's just that movies rarely compare in quality to their literary counterparts. The individual performances in this film are great. Natalie Portman steals the show and delivers an amazing performance as Anne Boleyn. Scarlett Johansson deserved way more screen time and freedom to be her powerhouse self (Mary Boleyn in the book is vastly a larger character than Mary Boleyn in the film). Eric Bana is moody and brooding and wicked hot and pretty much exactly what he was supposed to be as Henry VIII. Oh and by the way, Jim Sturgess (the lead in Across the Universe) was a pleasant, pleasant surprise.

All in all I think the movie tried way too hard to be megaplex marketable. I wish that it had been three hours long, art house dramatic, and at least attempt to tell the vast and sweeping story the book tackles. The movie boiled it down, way down, and it was the worse for it. The film also focused way. too. much. on the George Boleyn/Anne Boleyn incest situation, even claiming it was the sole reason she was executed. Not true. It's much more complicated than that. Anyway, I guess they thought that story line would make the film salacious and interesting. And yet they completely neglected the fact that George was gay and had a boyfriend and Mary enjoyed a beautiful romance with William Stafford and Anne herself was virtually responsible for the creation of the Church of England and so many other fascinating details that were completely ignored. And yet...you know with that cast...I'll totally see it again.

Vantage Point
Summary: An innovative filmmaking concept that pulled off successfully for about 70% of the movie and then it all went to pot...or at least it went the way of every other action movie ever made: long car chase followed by quick plot wrap up with little explanation or logic. That first 70% was the exact same moment repeated about six different times from six different points of view. Rather than keep that arty momentum and let the entire film be a handful of vantage points, it stopped telling the story that way and it became one perspective, one action shot, one single story to wrap it all up. It was worth seeing and definitely entertaining (can't imagine why it wasn't released with the other brain drains in July), but it could've been a lot cooler.

It also could have been a lot more political. They hint at the global anti-American sentiment and they hint at a president who may or may not have remarkable similarities to a one George Walker Bush (ahem), but they never hit it hard. I guess that's probably not the role of a bubble gum action flick, but I think it could have been.

Definitely, Maybe
I usually hate movies like this and seeing this movie was not a choice I made...but I'll admit I totally loved it. Totally. Loved. It. I was surprised by how adult it was and how much I related to it. The premise is simple: A father in the midst of a divorce is asked by this ten-ish year-old daughter to share the story of how he met her mother. He proceeds to tell the story of three significant relationships from his past, with the somewhat contrived premise that the daughter will guess which woman is her mother.

I should warn you that this movie is an Obama commercial masquerading as a Clinton campaign flashback (you'll see what I mean), but I obviously didn't mind that. At any rate, the reason I like the movie is because Rachel Weisz...errr...that too, but because related to the relationships. I've been in many similar situations in my own romantic relationships and the way the stories were told resonated with me. On top of that Ryan Reynolds is hysterically funny and btw - if you've ever wondered what my brother looks like (why would you?) - look no further than Ryan Reynolds. It's creepy because I think Ryan Reynolds is hot. Huh.

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
The Film Center had a free screening of this movie and I'm glad they did because I don't know that I would have seen it otherwise. My friend and I both agree that the preview doesn't do it justice. It's a campy lighthearted romp, to be sure, and completely predictable, but the movie is surprisingly better than you'd expect.

The premise -- a dowdy old housekeeper becoming a "social secretary" (ie: one who shuffles one lover out the back door while shuffling another in the front door) for a flighty vixen, while in the meantime dowdy old housekeeper finds her own lover -- is trite. But I will say that it's better than it sounds and it's a great way to chill out for a couple hours.

The Golden Compass
My Harry Potter indoctrination last month opened for me a whole new world of interesting movies: children/youth fantasy adventures. That's probably not even a real genre and something that I just now made up, but I'm sure you know what I'm talking about by that description. I didn't know The Golden Compass was the first film in a series. While I went to this movie expecting a clean wrap-up within two hours...I was left hanging with the realization that this will now, along with Harry Potter, be added to the list of sequels I wait for.

I really liked this movie. I remember seeing the preview and thinking it was a "maybe" and then the polar bear started talking and it went back to a "no" and post-Harry Potter I thought I'd give it a go. It's a fascinating way to teach children about subverting authority (a valuable lesson...and I'm not being facetious) and thinking for themselves, dreaming for themselves, and acting for themselves. I heard there was some scuffle from the religious right about this film being anti-Christian. It's not anti-Christian, it's anti-establishment in any possible form The Establishment takes. It's about standing up to an Orwellian culture of blind obedience and making your own decisions based on your own passions. Right on. (Side note for my LDS peeps -- Mark my words: coming to a ward near you there will be an over-the-pulpit reference to the golden compass metaphor within six months. The doctrine of agency and a little instrument called the Liahona...sound familiar? "It is the Alethiometer. It tells the truth. As for how to read it, you'll have to learn by yourself.") The religious right is lame. The Golden Compass is rad.

First Friday Films | Take Six

First Friday Films Take Six
Series, mini-series, seasons, trilogies, ensembles, and my longed-for epic! Finally!


Elvis: The Mini-series
I've been eyeing this film in Redbox for a while, but never quite get around to renting it. Being that Jonathan Rhys Myers is in it (head over heels in love) and I was not immediately persuaded tells you how little I care about Elvis Presley. I should have known, however, that Jonathan's Midas touch could make a film about paint drying worthy of an Oscar (or Emmy, in this case). He was completely transformed and it was honestly incredible how perfectly he nailed the mannerisms, the accent (from his native Irish to American English to Southern drawl...), the dancing. Oh my my, the dancing. I have to say I felt a bit like a 50s school girl watching him and felt a bit more sympathetic to the Elvis fanatics.

This was my first exposure to Elivs's life story and I'm glad I watched it. It was interesting and totally news to me. In a Google photo search for pics of Jonathan (always a pleasurable experience) I came across an Entertainment Weekly review that absolutely hated the film because it "brought nothing new to the table." Well, for someone who doesn't live and breathe Elvis trivia, I found plenty to like. And Elvis aside, let's be honest, I'm glad I watched four hours of Jonathan twitching both his hips and beautifully full lips...

Blade I...and Blade II...and Blade Trinity
Welcome to the world of vampire cult films and B-rate SciFi. Wowzah. I've always been curious about this series and remember it coming out at roughly the same time as The Matrix films. I was far far too busy obsessing about The Matrix to bother with vampires. Having watched all three Blade films within a week's time I can't help but think that the Blade people share my obsession with The Matrix. There were very similar gravity-defying martial arts sequences, long black trench coats, and heros with little to no dialogue...and yet in my world Neo remains much cooler than Blade.

Blade I is totally messed up. Blade II is better than the first. Blade Trinity seems to be the only one of the three intended for megaplex popularity and felt too glitzy to hold the original grit of a cult classic. Looking back on the three in total, even though I had a hard time watching Blade I and thought it was totally disgusting (minus yummy Stephen Dorff, because I'm still not over the "Cryin" music video), in terms of vampire B-films, it was much better than Blade Trinity.

Harry Potter series-to-date
Before you pass horrified judgment, keep in mind that without television or commercial radio it's not difficult to believe that I've ignored the entirety of the Harry Potter craze. I wasn't as oblivious to Harry Potter as I was to High School Musical (which is to say I'd at least heard of Harry Potter), but I'd still never read a single book or seen so much as a preview for the movies until a couple weeks ago. With my new found crush on jailbait Zac Efron, my 35-year old Daniel-Radcliffe-Obsessed friend found her perfect opening to continue my pop culture crash course. We watched the films back-to-back and I caught up on the series in three days. I'll probably read the books eventually, but the movies suffice for now.

Films 1 and 2 were cutesy and trite and set up the story well enough, but weren't terribly compelling. As the story progresses you can see J.K. Rowling progressing as a writer and constructing better stories...which in turn makes for better movies. By the time film 3 hits it's like out of nowhere. It's difficult to consider films 1 and 2 as even being part of the same series. For one, Daniel Radcliffe begins his journey to hotness with flying colors by film 3 and I feel like less of a pedaphile. Also, films 3 through 5 aren't afraid to be dark. It's like films 1 and 2 were apologetic for being about underage wizards and then they get over it and own their dark creepiness. I mean, it's no Blade-trilogy-darkness, but they do get better and better. I *loved* film 5 and I'm actually looking forward to seeing the last few in the theatre. I'm also looking forward to seeing how they make an increasingly strapping Daniel Radcliffe look an innocent 16. And no, the photo has nothing to do with Harry Potter. Daniel in Equus. You're welcome.

Friends, season 10
Yup. Just finished it. Nope. Not kidding. I stopped watching television before the series finished and so I never knew how it ended until a few weeks ago. Do Rachel and Joey really hook up? What about the veritable institution that is Ross and Rachel? Monica and Chandler are trying to get pregnant, what ever happened there? Phoebe can't marry David, Mike is so much better for her. Such burning questions left unanswered...for years and years!

I was a huge Friends fan and watched faithfully every week. It's a formulaic sitcom but they nailed it for what it was. The characters were perfect in and of themselves and the groove with everyone combined was seamless. Over the past few years I watched seasons 6 through 9 on DVD but life happens and I never got around to season 10 until right now. Gotta be honest, cried a bit at the finale. She got off the plane! Yay!

I'm Not There
Wow. So I can't imagine the research Todd Haynes had to drown himself in to pull this off. What an innovative way to tell the life story of a total enigma: seven different life stages, seven different personalities, seven different actors. Heath Ledger (more on him later) knocked it out of the park, of course, as "The Restless Lover" Dylan. Cate Blanchett. OMG. I realize that at least one a month I freak out about her in this blog, but seriously, she's so perfect I can barely stand it. Everything she does is beyond top notch. She sets her own bar and that bar is vastly beyond anything even the best movies can attempt. If she's in a movie for ten minutes, it's her movie. Unbelievable. She was "The Innovator" Dylan who plugged in at Newport and spiraled into drugs and depression. Christian Bale. He was "The Prophet" Dylan in his early folk days and also "The Spiritualist" Dylan in his late '70s come-to-Jesus phase. And might I add, if there were ever a rival to Cate for my ultimate devotion, it may just be Christian Bale. He played two different Dylans and, of course, in true method acting Bale form, he transformed into two completely different people.

Lars and the Real Girl
I've gushed about Cate and Christian...but I cannot in the slightest ignore the tour de force that is Ryan Gosling. I have friends who aren't exactly rabid about indy film and who don't feel an absolutely overwhelming need to own every. single. Ryan Gosling film and watch each of them 107 times...and they came away from this movie in a quiet state of reverent awe. Behold, the power of Ryan Gosling.

From the super indy United States of Leland to the gritty Half Nelson to the glossy Hollywood Fracture...he can do no wrong and there is no one in young Hollywood who could pull off a love story with a blow-up sex doll. No one. I wager that even lame twelve-year old boys who might wander into this movie expecting a raunchy laugh would leave with the same reverent awe as my friends did. He is so absolutely perfect and he carries the entire film (even next to Emily Mortimer, who I love!), making it sweet and sad and beyond sincere. It's magic.

The Laramie Project
What a gem. This is one of those impulse library rentals that interested me on title alone and proved to be a diamond in the rough. This is one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. The Tectonic Theater Project (based on NYC) traveled to Laramie, Wyoming not long after Matthew Shepard was murdered. They interviewed hundreds of people and recorded/transcribed each of the interviews. They gave the town a chance to talk privately and openly about the incident that shook them to their core and brought them into a harsh national spotlight. The theatre company took these interviews to the stage in New York and Moises Kaufman made a documentary-style film version in 2002 (opening night Sundance selection).

The film version is by far the largest ensemble cast I've ever seen...and I like ensemble movies and make a point to seek them out. The special features highlight the fact that no one was paid to make this film, the actors donated their time because they wanted to be part of this incredible work. I had forgotten how powerful that moment in our history was. I was a senior in high school when it happened and I can remember where I was when I first heard the story. I had also forgotten that Russell Henderson (one of the two boys who tortured, beat, and killed Matthew) was LDS. Lovely. And people ask my why, as a Mormon, I volunteer with Equality Utah and fight for gay rights. My work may or may not move our society forward, but perhaps I can at least balance out the impact of assholes like Russell. This coming fall marks the 10th anniversary of Matthew's death and the fight for a fair America is far from won.

There Will Be Blood
Dude. If you've seen this movie, you know the feeling in the moment when it ends abruptly, the screen goes black, and you sit slack jawed and sucker punched, "Dude..." Incredible. Why can't all movies be this stellar? This movie deserves every. single. ounce. of praise it's receiving. Daniel Day-Lewis is mind blowing. I heard him interviewed on NPR and he told the story of how he created his character Daniel Plainview. I praised Christian Bale's mastery of the method, but I think Daniel Day-Lewis may be the ultimate master of our time. He went into character three months prior to filming and lived every breath as Plainview. He would work for hours each day, speaking into a tape recorder, trying different voices, inflections, tempos for his voice and every so often the tape was shipped off to Paul Thomas Anderson (Punch Drunk Love, Magnolia, Cigarettes and Coffee) for feedback. The first fifteen minutes of the movie have no dialogue whatsoever. The moment Daniel Plainview speaks, you are completely transfixed. It's a singularly distinctive voice.

Daniel Day Lewis has been mind blowing for quite some time, so let's not forget to talk about Paul Dano. Dude. He's toe to toe with Daniel Day-Lewis and he more than holds his own. His two exorcism scenes are still haunting me, no pun intended. Amazing. And the score?! Ohhhh the score. There are no words, you just have to hear it.

Cloverfield
J.J. Abrams fans? Anyone? The Lost pilots? MI:III? Hand-held cameras running through the streets of New York for two hours? Anyone? I bloody loved this movie. Let me clarify that statement by saying that the script is average, the acting is 50/50 good and poor, the plot is trite...but none of that matters. The film making is so innovative and fresh and interesting that I gladly laid aside the fact that the narrative was sort of lame.

You're dropped into the middle of a story with no explanation and you either pick up the narrative and the characters or you don't. You're led through the entire movie by a handheld camera of a party-goer who is filming goodbye footage for a friend who's moving over seas and it never once lets up and gives you a moment's rest with a still cam. Not once. Brilliant. There's nothing like that outside art house theatres and I think it's awesome that this movie has such a wide release. NPR hated it and the reviewer pulled some ridiculously lame "burning buildings and New York being terrorized...too soon" crap.

I have a handful of dorky film maker friends who prattle on and on about the creature creation and forms and models and the tradition of monster movies with respect to the sanitized American approach and the true-to-form Japanese style and on and on and while I don't necessary follow their conversation with any personal investment, when I see King Kong and then I see Cloverfield, I completely understand the difference...and long live the Japanese monster movie, might I add.

Brokeback Mountain
I was as shocked as everyone to learn that Heath Ledger died. He was my age and it's so difficult to deal with the death of young people, let alone young people who are so talented and had so much of the world in front of them. There's never been a Heath Ledger movie I didn't enjoy, but last night I watched my favorite. You can't help but think of Michelle and Matilda Rose. It's so sad. He was such a gentle, beautiful person. Daniel Day-Lewis, speaking of, is quoted as saying that Heath inspired him to keep acting. Wow.

First Friday Films | A Belated Take Five

First Friday Films Take Five
Coming-of-age Indian dramas, Irfan Khan (three times), sex with horses assumed to be Jesus incarnate...December was a busy month.


The Warrior
Anthony Minghella. Minghellaaaaaahhhhh...breathe a sigh of appreciation for such classic favorites as English Patient, Talented Mr. Ripley, and now... The Warrior. The Warrior is not a new film, it's just new to me. I was wandering through Tower looking for a Plan B when I discovered The Namesake was already checked out when I stumbled upon...you guessed it...Irfan Khan. Minus the growing handful of American films he's in, Kahn is best known for glittering mouthfuls of cotton Bollywood candy. In The Warrior, however, he says maybe 50 words the entire time. It's sensuous and haunting. To say that his eyes, his incredibly subtle facial expressions, completely make this film is an understatement.

I found this description online (and get your law suits ready because no, I don't remember where I found it) and I think it's perfect: "Set in ancient India, this is the epic tale of a lone warrior, Lafcadia, who quits his job as the enforcer of the war lord of the Red Fort after an encounter with a mystical force during a mission to raid a village in the deserts of Rajasthan for unpaid taxes. Abandoning his old life, The warrior is chased into the Himalayan Mountains, pursued by his former employees forces... ultimately facing them there." In other words, he used to be a hit man and has a run-in with his conscience that completely turns his life around. It's a story about redemption, ultimately. It is, unlike other films I saw this month (keep reading), truly epic and has some of the most beautiful cinematography I've seen in a long time.

Darjeeling Limited
A+. A sweet coming of age story about three brothers traveling through India in search of their absentee mother just after their father's funeral. I capital-A Adore Wes Anderson. I Adore his quirky humor contrasted with bouts of extensive cinematic silence. I Adore his who's who indy soundtracks. I Adore Adrian Brody. I Adore Jason Swartzman. I Adore this pitch perfect movie. It's odd, sad, witty, quiet, awkward, honest, and I think it's Wes Anderson's best (which means something coming from me). Also, while only a small role but continuing my monthly theme, Irfan Khan is spotted along the Darjeeling rails. See the movie and keep your eyes peeled. It's way cooler than Waldo.

The Namesake
Sticking with this month's coming-of-age theme, I rented The Namesake and relived this lushly gorgeous film. I didn't struggle with etnhic and/or racial identity growing up in America as the child of immigrants, but the brilliant thing about this movie is that it manages to be completely universal. At its core The Namesake speaks to anyone who has struggled to consciously define any part of themselves. It traces Gogol Ganguli's life from pre-birth, by way of his parent's immigration from India to America, through his school years, college graduation, first love, second love, marriage, divorce, death of a parent, in other words...it covers a lot of ground and it's beautiful. And yes, as predicted, Irfan Khan plays Gogol's father and he does so perfectly. Kal Penn is also spot on in the lead role. He's definitely one to watch (minus that one unfortunate movie about hamburgers which I never saw).

Iron Jawed Angels
I had forgotten how much I love this movie. I saw it in the theatre years ago and remember loving how hip and sexy they managed to make the women's suffrage movement. It was such a fresh take. Passionate young suffragettes marching on Washington to the beat of a Lauryn Hill soundtrack. It's even cooler than I remembered. HBO did a brilliant job contrasting old school politics to the more radical activism of Alice Paul and Lucy Burns.

I wish that more people, men and women, would realize and appreciate this bit of our country's history. It's completely unfathomable to me that any woman watching this film would be capable of not voting, not caring, not honoring the sacrifices of so many gone before. It also made me think of one of my favorite Ani DiFranco slam poems, which was subsequently stuck in my head for days and days after watching this movie: "People been raising up their voices since it just ain't been right with all the righteous rage and bitter spite that will accompany us out of this long night. [...] Shocked to tears by each new vision of what my ancestors have done, say the women who gave their lives so that I could have one. We're standing at ground zero of the feminist revolution. It was an inside job, stoic and sly, one we're supposed to forget and downplay and deny, but I think the time is nothing if not nigh to let the truth out. The coolest f-word every deserves a fuckin' shout. Why can't all decent men and women call themselves feminists? Out of respect for those who fought for this." Right on.

The Bourne Ultimatum
Between Live Free, Die Hard and The Bourne Ultimatum, I had an explosive summer with uncharacteristically intelligent action flicks. I saw this final film in the Bourne trilogy many times and when it was at the $1 theatre in my 'hood I saw it yet again. It was definitely the best out of the trilogy and that says a lot. It's very near the pinnacle of what thoughtful action films can be. The choreography of the chase scene at Waterloo station? Genius. The fist fight between Bourne and the asset Desh in Tangier, with no sound but raw fists and grunting and breaking bones? Genius. If Hollywood insists on blowing stuff up and bombarding us with obnoxious sights and sounds to overload our senses each summer, can't they all be as brilliant as Bourne? Um, or at least all star Matt Damon...?

Juno
I'm not in the large legion of Superbad / Knocked Up fans, it's just not for me. However, post-Juno, I have a little thing for Michael Cera. Gotta be honest with you. Ellen Page is Janeane Garofalo en utero. I hope she sticks around and hits her full stride. She's like the wicked smart, bitter but warmly funny lesbian at the cocktail party that you can't help but crush on. Anyone? Just me? Anyway, it's a simple story that's told with such humanity (that sounds pretentious and we should reserve words like "humanity" for the Hindenberg and Gandhi), you can't help but find yourself in at least one of the characters. I think that the married couple who may adopt Juno's baby (Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner) stole the show. The acting, yes, but their plot line was much more compelling to me than Juno's. At any rate, well done. It's the best of what indy can be.

Transformers
"Before time began, there was the cube!" Huh. So this was my first-ever encounter with Transformers. I've never been a ten year old boy, never been a thirty-something boy wishing he was ten again, never watched cartoons and comic book television of the like growing up, so other than the previews I saw last spring, I had absolutely no context for this movie. I actually thought it was pretty cool, interesting special effects, and while Shia Leboeuf overacts like a horny high school thespian, he's jailbait cute and the movie pulled me in. Well, it pulled me in until the robot car things started talking and suddenly had personalities, completing the posse with a token black robot. It was at this point that I became very confused.

I was cool with the sneaky scorpion thing fighting the U.S. army in Qatar (that was the raddest thing I've ever seen) and I was even cool with Shia's car acting out and playing hair band ballads for his porn star classmate crush, but when the Transfomers become anthropomorphic characters for whom we're meant to form an emotional bond...it totally lost me. But then...things started blowing up. Things blew up for like 50 minutes straight and I was back on board at about minute 10. Relentless special effects. Relentless. Very cool.

Atonement
I think I must be hungry for a truly epic film because I went to Atonement for that fix and was let down. All the reviews, all the people I know who've seen it, apparently everyone but me thinks this is the most heart-wrenching historical epic ever sent to the big screen. I mean, it won the Golden Globe for Best Drama, so someone thinks it's epic. I liked it, don't get me wrong. I've posted about James McAvoy before and to borrow my friend's favorite expression, I want to take a bath in James McAvoy. He (along with Ryan Gosling, Christian Bale, and a handful of others) is one of the best actors of my generation, but the movie could never quite reach epic status. I kept leaning toward the screen and waiting for it, waiting for it, and thinking...now. Then no. Another sweeping moment would arrive and I would lean in thinking...now is the moment it reaches heart-wrenching epic status. Then no. I don't know quite what it is that held it back. I liked the movie a lot and I plan to see it again and eventually own it, I guess I just wanted it to be more than it is.

Kite Runner
Ibid on my previous comments about wanting an epic and being disappointed in that respect. I had just barely, like within a couple weeks, finished Hosseini's book and went into this movie with very high expectations. Again, like Atonement, I loved it (this movie is actually better than Atonement in many ways)...but I wanted it to be so much more. I tore through the novel so quickly and felt such an ownership and investment in the story that I could see every frame of the film as I would have made it. I suppose that's the difficulty of reading a book and then seeing a movie adaptation. I understand that it was a major studio release and two hours is a long time to ask of antsy American audiences, but I would have sat through six hours BBC style to get every word of that book onto the sliver screen.

One example is Amir's fist fight with Asef, when they are adults and Asef is a Taliban leader. Pages and pages and pages of detail in the book and half way through reading the scene I realized I was holding my breath. The movie translation? About sixty seconds and not even a fraction of the tension portrayed in the book. When the scene ended I thought, was that the same scene from the book? That was it? I understand that they had to fit A LOT of material into a commercially viable film, and the movie is still better than most anything else in the megaplex, but I guess I wanted more art house.

Equus
Did I say I wanted more art house? Um, I spoke too soon. Licking the sweat off a horse's neck while you climax from your gallop on the beast you assume to be a surrogate Christ...? Art house? I guess I got it with Equus. The stage version of Equus is huge in London and has been playing for years, the film version I picked up at the library is from 1977, so it's not like this disturbing journey is a new phenomenon. In all honesty, the reason it's new to me and why I'm just now discovering the world of Equus is because I have a friend who is obsessed with Daniel Radcliffe. No, I'm not playing therapy games. It's not me. I really do have a friend in love with the Harry little Potter. When news that he was playing the lead in Equus broke (and subsequent announcement of New York tour dates), and that the lead has significantly lengthy nude scenes, the Google hits were burning up the monitors of thirty-something Potter fans all across this great nation.

When on the shelf of my neighborhood library I saw the film adaptation of the London stage play, I thought I'd check it out. I still, to this day and all those showers later, feel completely violated. I will admit that the concept is fascinating. The psychology, the dialogue, the narration from the Psychiatrist assigned to work with the boy who loooves his horses, it's all completely engrossing and you can't look away. You honestly want to know what happens and feel invested in the boy's pending therapeutic breakthrough. What hits you out of left field is the fact that the boy somehow mixes up Jesus and his sacrifice with the thought that the horses he tends in the country club's stable sacrifice for him by submitting to his whip, his desire to ride, allowing him to set the pace, "they could crush me in an instant, but instead give themselves over to me, a mere human..." So the thought (not new to Equus and actually found in religious traditions all over the world) that sexual intimacy is a connection to a higher source of power becomes the boy's reason for sneaking the horse out at night and galloping around naked until he comes and then rubs the horse down, licking it's sweaty mane until they both calm down. Huh. So yeah.

So the boy starts dating a girl who also works at the country club and at the end of one of their dates they end up in the stable, fooling around and very nearly having sex. The boy freaks out because the horses are watching (keep in mind that to him the horses are Jesus-eqsue), and his childhood Christian guilt kicks in and he can't bring himself to have sex with the girl. He also can't bear the thought that Jesus/Equus would watch him have 'shamefuly dirty' sex with this girl. When she leaves the barn he takes some sort of huge pick axe thing and stabs all six horses in the eyes and stands under each, covered in blood, screaming "Equus!!" Hence the psychiatrist visits. Dude. I feel dirty just recounting this brief narrative.

High School Musical 1 - Remix Edition
That's right. Two-disc Remix Edition. I told you I wanted this sugary treat in my stocking at Christmas and I was not disappointed. I thought I enjoyed watching the pop-up version on the Disney Channel (at home with the 'rents for Thanksgiving) but the sing along version is even cooler. The only thing that would have made it perfect is if a bouncing Mickey Mouse head would highlight each of the words as the song cruises on. Don't all 26 year olds need a little help keeping pace with the sing along subtitles? What? Of course all 26 year olds are obsessed with this movie as I am. Oh and you can bet I totally watched the special features where Zac teaches me the dance steps to "Getcha Head in da' Game" and I can now rock those moves by heart. It's my new favorite party trick. It sure beats pulling a quarter out of the host's ear.

First Friday Films | Take Four

First Friday Films | Take Four
The Oscar Race continues...



I'm still enjoying the run of substantive scripts and political plot lines gracing our megaplexes. It's only a matter of time until movies stop grasping for Oscars, go back to sucking, and I retreat back to the Film Society and obscure world cinema waiting to be discovered on the library shelves, but for now...

Into the Wild
When the film ended and I sat glued to my seat, tears in my eyes, and a knot in my stomach, I knew the experience would haunt me. I didn't expect, however, that it would still be haunting me weeks and weeks later. The genius behind this haunting experience is most definitely Sean Penn (the film's screenwriter & director, and a golden idol worshiped by yours truly), but not to be overlooked is Emile Hirsch who nailed the role of Chris McCandless.

For me this is a love story. It's a love story about Chris's passionate affair with nature, his fling with the freedom of the open road, and the eternal quest to find an authentic self. I have a wanderlust in me that will not be satiated, but I believe that deep within every person is the desire to be free and live authentically. For Chris McCandless that meant hitchhiking, living off the land, spending years of his life virtually alone and in search of...something. Not many take it to that extreme, but there is something profoundly, universally human about this film. I've heard from friends that have read Krakauer's book (I haven't yet) that it's a bit different than the film. It's definitely on my to-read list. Oh and Eddie Veder's soundtrack, it should be noted, is a character in the film in its own right.

Dan in Real Life
Cute, funny, lame, plays out like a poorly written sitcom, but Steve Carrel is sweet, super good looking, and quite charming. Because of him, even this mildly inane film is worth watching. Dane Cook, however, WTF? Doesn't he have beer cans that need crushing against a forehead or something? Run along.

Lions for Lambs
"Rome is burning, son!" Rome is burning and I'm glad this movie stepped into the fray. This movie is such an awesome surprise. Knowing that Cruise produced it (his first project as head of United Artists), Redford directed it, and Streep acted in it, one would assume it's a liberal flick preaching to the liberal choir. Not so much. The brilliance of this film is that it's perfectly balanced. Perfectly. If you go into this movie thinking George Bush is right, America is infallible, and we're taking the right approach in the "war on terror"...you'll leave feeling validated and represented by this film. If you go into this movie thinking George Bush is doing incredible harm, America deserves better, and we need to pull out of Iraq yesterday...you'll leave feeling validated and represented by this film. Brilliant.

The three stories told in the film take place simultaneously and all in the course of about one hour. You watch a conservative senator have a heated conversation with a liberal journalist. You watch a passionate university professor have a debate with an apathetic young student. You watch two U.S. soldiers stranded in the snowy mountains of Afghanistan, eventually both killed by Taliban fighters. Redford is never shy about cramming metaphors down your throat and this movie is customarily thinly veiled. The message? "The problem is not with the leaders who started this, the problem is with us. They bank on your apathy. The build entire strategies around it." The point? Have the conversation. This movie doesn't provide answers, it only starts the conversation. It doesn't tell you if the soldiers died in vain. It doesn't tell you what the apathetic young student decides to do with the challenge posed by his professor. It doesn't tell you what story the journalist publishes. It only starts the dialogue that every person in America, if they would stop consuming long enough to be citizens again, should be having.

In the film, in a debate about consumerism in our culture, a college student flippantly asks: "When did Americans not want big homes and high walls?" The profound response came from a classmate: "July 5, 1776. December 8, 1941. September 12, 2001." We need to have this conversation now. The immediacy created by telling all three stories in real time in about an hour is Redford's not-subtle way of telling us the time is now. In the time it takes you to watch this film, two more soldiers, albeit fictional characters in a film, have died. And yet...how many soldiers and citizens have lost their lives in the time it took you to read this post? Start the conversation. Start by seeing Lions for Lambs.

American Gangster
I can't get enough Russell Crowe. I really like him and I really like the films/roles he chooses (A Good Year as a possible exception). This script is so tight and so perfectly woven that even though the movie feels eight hours long, I couldn't take my eyes off the screen. I honestly cared to know what happened to each character and it's a rare film that can hook you like that. What's more is that I'm not terribly interested in gangster thriller films...and yet it held my attention through to the very end. Well done.

Beowulf
As an undergrad I trudged through this epic in its original old English verse and when I first heard Hollywood got its hands on it I was interested in the way we're interested in car accidents. You don't want to look and but you're oddly compelled to rubberneck. From what I understand, Beowulf is supposed to be seen in 3D. I didn't watch it in 3D and perhaps that explains the annoying half-animation slash half-human situation I was faced with. Very confusing. And yet, like a train wreck, oddly compelling. The cinematic style grew on me and sometimes, when I let my eyes relax and cross a bit, it got better and was almost 3D. Angelina Jolie, it goes without explanation, is wicked hot in her gold body paint (and CGI hips). My goodness. But even my crush on her, I'm sorry to say, wouldn't get me in the theatre a second time.

Reign Over Me
I realize this came out eons ago...but it was another Redbox impulse rent. I like Adam Sandler in dramatic roles. I think that when he wants to, he can make pretty decent movies (Punch Drunk Love, for example). Not to say that Happy Gilmore isn't a modern classic among the likes of Gone with the Wind. I thought Reign Over Me is tastefully done. It's a quiet, sweet movie about friendship and grief. I've posted before about my fascination with films portraying male friendships and this is another good example. Don Cheadle is flawless and completely steals the show.

Enchanted
I didn't do nearly enough blow in preparation for this bizarre flick, nor was I drunk enough. I attended a free sneak preview and once I figured out how to block the noise of sticky children running up and down the aisles (I guess their parents dropped them off and were back home in the barn), Enchanted was pretty funny. I mean, let's be honest, it's stupid and contrived, but somehow it ended up being really funny. You have not lived until you watch a hamster play charades for three minutes straight. What?!

I'll never say no to Patrick Dempsey (even in a ball gown) and Susan Sarandon is wicked hot (not pun intended) in her witchy get-up. I also like that it tried to turn the tired fairy tale on its head. In other words, not to ruin the suspenseful ending for those of you dying to see it, the princess kicks ass and saves the prince's life. That's what I'm talkin' about.

August Rush
Cynics beware, don't bother with August Rush. If you're not willing to suspend judgement and let yourself be swept up in a dazzlingly magical story, spend your money on American Gangster. If you are willing to let yourself be charmed, romanced, and flat out seduced by the idea that anything is possible, you must. see. this. movie.

The fact that there is a harmonic connection among all living things on this planet (harmonic patterns throughout the entire cosmos, for that matter) is nothing new or controversial. What is beautiful to me is the way that this film took that harmonic concept from the abstract universal and translated it into something extremely specific and personal. In the case of August Rush, two musicians fall in love, have a one night stand, a child (put in an orphanage), and a passionate emotional connection even though they have no contact with each other outside their one night together. Ultimately, it's music that brings all three people (the musician lovers and their child) together after 11 years have gone by.

I knew what I was getting into with this movie and I was very willing to be charmed, romanced and flat out seduced by a happy ending. So between Jonathan Rhys Myers (ranked securely in my Top Five Sexiest Men on Planet Earth. Match Point, anyone? Don't make me gush about the Tudors (Google an image search and I promise you won't be disappointed)) and this refreshingly sweet script, I was not disappointed. Lovely all around.

High School Musical 1 & 2
Before your mouth gapes in shocked horror at the fact that until 23 November 2007 I had never heard of High School Musical, consider that: A) I'm not a bubble gum popping thirteen year old; B) By intentional choice my only media outlets are PBS and NPR; C) I don't read Rolling Stone, Teen Beat, or InTouch; and D) I'm not a bubble gum popping thirteen year old. To reiterate. And yet, as of 07 December 2007, I have sincerely requested that both DVDs be stuffed in my Christmas stocking.

So I'm at my parent's house for Thanksgiving weekend and having just finished a non-fiction memoir about the Rwandan genocide I found myself detoxing by flipping through no less than 500 channels on the boob tube. With approximately two seconds on each channel I can't say I caught much of anything...until I fell in love with Zac Efron. Two seconds. That's all it took. Turns out the Disney Channel was playing High School Musical 1 & 2 back to back all. day. long. All! Day! (And no, I won't tell you how many times I watched them). Not only were they airing these addicting treats back-to-back, there were little pop-up bubbles displaying random behind-the-scenes facts about the cast, crew, and the experience of making the movies. So yes I'm like three years behind, but I bet you can't tell me that the milk cartons in the cafeteria were actually filled with Sprite or that the stairs in the high school were not painted red, but covered in sticky vinyl.

So speaking of my tasty jail bait, Zac has an overly-acted but rockin' dance solo in the second film and it's totally Footloosesque (floppy haired Kevin cracks open a cassette tape case, beats the steering wheel with his fists, shakes his little acid washed booty...I'm flushed at the thought). Speaking of, the world wide web told me Zac is working on a deal to remake the classic dance flick and play the Ren McCormick role. Cute as he is, not quite sure how I feel about that. I will tell you how I feel about the confirmation of High School Musical 3, however. Giddy as a bubble gum poppin' tweenyboppin' school girl.