the Holiday Round-Up : Doubt/Curious Case of Benjamin Button/Seven Pounds/Cadillac Records

Bu-bum, bu-bum, bu-bum...

Santa Baby, just slip some tickets under the tree, for me...

It's holiday film season and sadly I must have been pretty bad this year to deserve this star-studded, but talent-lacking cinematic coal. How could these films have gone wrong? Perhaps because they were so focused on the who? (Oscar thoroughbreds) that they lost track of the why? Why make these films? Why tell these stories? What message do they have to have offer modern audiences or add to the American social fabric? These filmmakers don't want us to pry, they want us to buy (tickets, tasteless popcorn). And apparently sit. For long periods of time. And absorb this crap. As Sister Aloysius would say, "I have my doubts. I have such doubts."

Rather than dwell on these problematic concoctions, I will focus on the best scenes from these flicks.

Doubt - Viola Davis stole the film from heavyweights Streep and Hoffman as Mrs. Miller, the working class mother of a troubled Catholic school boy. Her three minute emotional breakdown was the most captivating aspect. For Your Consideration Academy: Best Supporting Actress.

Curious Case of Benjamin Button - While I don't think I could be paid to see this film again, I could probably watch the 43 year old Button visiting Blanchett in Parisian hospital(Brad Pitt at his most attractive) read the phone book. The Manhattan phone book.

Seven Pounds - Difficult. I was charmed by that jellyfish and then it behaved badly. I may have enjoyed the printing press repair only because I find guys who solve tech problems to be very sexy.

Cadillac Records - There were several good moments in this movie, but not enough to recommend it. Beyonce was an excellent Etta James, but Mos Def stole the show as Chuck Berry. Favorite scene: his arrest for fraternizing with underage girls across state lines. Classic.

Paired with Red tea misto. Why? I have an answer! Less expensive and more delightful alternative to their Hollywood counterparts.

Milk (and Cookies)

Milk
Written by Dustin Lance Black
Directed by Gus Van Sant

Tis the Oscar season for self-indulgent biopics. Wouldn't an acting trophy fit nicely in your stocking oh Hollywood star/starlet?

This is not that film, but always good to understand what the expectations are when historical biographies are given the red carpet treatment in the month of December (Aviator, Hurricane, Ali, Ray, Pollock, etc). Milk, starring Sean Penn, among a highly-talented ensemble cast (Allison Pill, James Franco, Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin, etc), is an excellent study in how to make a successful biopic. Hollywood take note:

1) There needs to be a story. It is not simply enough to stage "Oscar-winning moments," a few angst-ridden emotional meltdowns to be circulated on the "For your consideration" reel to Academy members. Milk has an arc. Harvey Milk begins the film as a closeted insurance salesman in New York. At 40, with no passion or truth to his lifestyle, he decides he needs a change and moves to the Castro, a gay-friendly neighborhood in San Francisco. As he and his partner (James Franco) quickly discover "gay-friendly" is not a term that came into common vernacular for thirty more years. Over the course of the film and Milk's life's many obstacles, the main character finds himself and his voice as the first openly gay elected official in a major public office. He was a tireless advocate for gay rights, as well as a charismatic politician, who by the end of the film, is compared to Boss Tweed or Mayor Daley.

2) There needs to be secondary characters and secondary sub-plots. As interesting as it is to watch Tom Hanks deteriorate on an island with a volleyball for 2 plus hours, it is also helpful to have a little external conflict. Milk is very successful at this. Through the secondary characters (Milk's political team and confidantes), we gain greater insight into him as a person--a politician, a friend, a businessman, and a lover. Sure Director Ron Howard uses the taped memoirs as a through device and the framing newsreels, but it isn't as cloying as it could be. I felt as invested in the secondary story lines as I was in Milk himself. Especially Emile Hirsch and Josh Brolin (an unlikely villain who effectively unravels throughout the film).

3)There needs to be contemporary significance. This is especially helpful so that everyone can gasp or sigh in the end credits as the "what are these characters doing now" news bites scroll. Given the fervor surrounding Prop 8, this is a film which raises pertinent social questions.

Paired well with Milk and Cookies on Commerce Street in the West Village. Don't wear your tightest jeans.

Frost/Nixon

Frost/Nixon
Written by Peter Morgan
Directed by Ron Howard

I like to wash down my egg nog latte with a little political history. Who am I kidding? I am lactose intolerant and Starbucks discontinued this beverage this year in favor of some highly-caloric espresso truffle-tini or something. Adding "truffle" to any menu item is a likely ploy to convince the consumer that it is worth the additional $2-10. Starbucks, do not think I am fooled by your faux-luxury confection additive which clearly comes from some powdery concentrate. I do not believe the Belgians would be okay with you taking their fine product in vain!

Okay, enough with my Starbucks tirade (still off the caffeine, very hard). Frost/Nixon, unlike Starbucks' new line of [Red] drinks, is worth your money. It is an interesting time capsule about a presidency not about change, but about lies and televised sweat beads. The script, transported from stage to screen, has a lot of great dramatic moments, which one imagines played expertly in a Broadway house. The actors understand the neurosis of their real-life alter egos and collaborate well together. You have the impression that everyone understands what film they are in, but could easily launch into their own subsequent biopic. Some great side stories spun by Kevin Bacon, Sam Rockwell, Oliver Platt, and the chick from Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

Should we be concerned that Tricky Dick comes off slightly sympathetic? A graying lecherous paranoid bigoted codger who has been given absurd power and grossly abuses it. Nah, his comeuppance is served, if not by Frost and the liberal gotcha media, but by the demons he so clearly wrestled with, ravaging his conscious. And like "W," the real idiots in the picture are the electorate. You voted this guy into power. You bought those truffles. You have to take some responsibility for the unpleasant aftertaste.

A holiday movie rundown: Australia/HSM3/Bolt/Slumdog Millionaire

Rather than expound on all the holiday movies released in the past week, I have decided to discuss them in haiku format.

Australia

Poor man's Titanic
Gone with the Wind in the Outback
Watch Baz count money

HSM3

Zac Efron sings, dances
All the gays come out in droves
Left script in closet

Bolt 3D

Dog, cat cross country
in search of Miley Cirus
Stay home, watch Disney

Slumdog Millionaire

Bollywood badass
slick Ritchie-like jump cuts, flashbacks
Strong Oscar karma