Fame, a byproduct of Capitalism? Or just a thinly hatched remake of the 1980s film about life in the New York high school where you are only as good as your last pirouette. My criticisms of this film are many: Why wasn't there more dancing? Why wasn't there more plot? Why did the high schoolers look older than me?
Mostly I spent the 90 minutes comparing my own high school experience in the small town midwest to that of the precocious performing arts students. Fewer rap battles and recording contracts, more football games and teen pregnancies. The stakes were much lower, no one broke out in song at school assemblies. I don't think it ever occurred to me that those four years would make or break any future career. How nice to grow up in a pressure-free passionless bubble! Hopefully one with better dialogue and fewer parents who use "talk to the hand" as a diss. There is nothing wrong with movies like Fame, polluting adolescents with optimism, lessons in discipline. I just wish they would preach a little content.
Capitalism: A Love Story reveals signs of aging from Mr. Moore. Less stunts, more sonatas on the soundtrack. Even his confrontation with the General Motors guards seemed to be an expression of exhaustion, tired of his own antics. But he still knows how to push your buttons/your liberal conscience -- home foreclosures, corporate insurance greed, the Goldman Sachs White House...it makes you sick and angry. I left the theatre suspicious and feeling guilty. How can I help fix things? Can I boycott all the wrong doers? The banks, the products, the services? Impossible, to live in America is to constantly confront evils. Rather than the consumers choosing the best good (the essence of capitalism and the free enterprise system), we are forced to select the least bad. Is it time to pack America in for a more civilized nation? No says Moore, with his big belly and Eastern Michigan ball cap, this is our home and we aren't going anywhere.
Meanwhile, a great find in the west village, independent coffee shop Doma on Perry Street, serving up wine as well as cups of joe and mighty pastries, one of the few places left in Manhattan where you can sit for a long while without sneers or Starbucks. Maybe capitalism will make it a mainstay.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Friday, September 4, 2009
Movies I meant to write about
Okay, so it's been a busy month, lots of coffee consumed (new find: The Chocolate Shop in the West Village -- one of the best iced caps and peanut butter chocolate cookie combos ever experienced).
Some movies I have seen:
Julie and Julia -- Meryl and Stanley -- Oscars, here, take them. Meanwhile, a meandering narrative and too much exposition/characters, not enough drama. Where was the climax? Oversleeping the alarm? A miscommunication? If there was ever a PSA about not moving to the outer boroughs, here it is... But I was hungry the whole time.
Time Travelers Wife -- Another book that didn't adapt well. I admit I cried a lot (how could you not soulless people?), but it didn't mean anything, it was cheap and maudlin. McAdams gave a lovely performance reacting to a somewhat remote Bana and time traveling through eras where the scenery was suspiciously static. Chicago in 1979 vs 2001...same or different Hollywood? Even the Marshall Fields bag was identical. Unlikely. I felt bad for all the straight males pulled along by their weeping girlfriends. They were the first to the exit as the credits, but I was right behind them, embarrassed by my tears.
The September Issue -- the story behind The Devil Wears Prada, a documentary on Anna Wintour and the development of the September issue of US Vogue. An interesting glimpse into the crazed and perhaps excessive world of fashion, magazine publishing, but mostly on Grace, the creative director who I absolutely adored (what a trooper to put up with the whims of that woman)in her clogs and stellar vision. Maybe not the most fascinating doc that could have been created from this material, but not a bad addition to your netflix cue.
Some movies I have seen:
Julie and Julia -- Meryl and Stanley -- Oscars, here, take them. Meanwhile, a meandering narrative and too much exposition/characters, not enough drama. Where was the climax? Oversleeping the alarm? A miscommunication? If there was ever a PSA about not moving to the outer boroughs, here it is... But I was hungry the whole time.
Time Travelers Wife -- Another book that didn't adapt well. I admit I cried a lot (how could you not soulless people?), but it didn't mean anything, it was cheap and maudlin. McAdams gave a lovely performance reacting to a somewhat remote Bana and time traveling through eras where the scenery was suspiciously static. Chicago in 1979 vs 2001...same or different Hollywood? Even the Marshall Fields bag was identical. Unlikely. I felt bad for all the straight males pulled along by their weeping girlfriends. They were the first to the exit as the credits, but I was right behind them, embarrassed by my tears.
The September Issue -- the story behind The Devil Wears Prada, a documentary on Anna Wintour and the development of the September issue of US Vogue. An interesting glimpse into the crazed and perhaps excessive world of fashion, magazine publishing, but mostly on Grace, the creative director who I absolutely adored (what a trooper to put up with the whims of that woman)in her clogs and stellar vision. Maybe not the most fascinating doc that could have been created from this material, but not a bad addition to your netflix cue.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Game -- 1, 2, 3...go
Rules: Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen movies you've seen that will always stick with you. First fifteen you can recall in no more than fifteen minutes.
My List:
My Fair Lady,
Almost Famous,
Pleasantville,
Election,
Kill Bill,
Ferris Bueller,
North by Northwest,
Before Sunset,
The Witches,
Bowling for Columbine,
Independence Day,
Dr. Strangelove,
Cool Runnings,
Run Lola Run,
High Noon
And runner up: Gattaca
My List:
My Fair Lady,
Almost Famous,
Pleasantville,
Election,
Kill Bill,
Ferris Bueller,
North by Northwest,
Before Sunset,
The Witches,
Bowling for Columbine,
Independence Day,
Dr. Strangelove,
Cool Runnings,
Run Lola Run,
High Noon
And runner up: Gattaca
Saturday, August 1, 2009
500 Days Of Summer and Funny People
After the heat from the summer blockbusters has worn off, we reach the contemplative midseason replacements. Best paired with an afternoon at your hamptons produce stand of choice. Before we get to Julie/Julia and time travelers wife...we have these two interesting flicks which will be lost on their way to years best lists in spite of their many merits:
500 days of summer has a lot of charm in its refreshing downtown yuppie style, discovering parts of LA with the lens not before exposed in such a whimsical light. Loved the concept of the jumbled relationship told in disorganized snapshots, excellent charismatic actors, cool music video camera work. Wished there had been more from summer, more of a two-sided Before Sunset feel than "she's just not that into you.". Hard to watch cluelessness from JGL for two hours without deciding he's kind of a moron for pursuing someone with no interest in him beyond careless amusement. This is not a love-story the film makes very clear from the get-go but it certainly makes one question every failed relationship you've had. Was I living in a music video of one?
Funny People was, well, brilliant. Such honesty and such an excellent ensemble piece filled with humor and autheticity. There is no question in my mind that this is based in reality--Sandlers empire based on personal insecurities and unprovoked meanness, rogen's goofy everymanness, mann's failed melrose babe career. There are so many excellent moments in this film--from the funny--the standup, the rapor between the comedians to the sincere--watching the daughter sing Memory with George Simmons checking his phone...perfect. I one-hundred percent believed this movie and was invested in the characters' lives. People never change and to expect otherwise is a symptom of insanity. Definitely a top ten not to be lost in bathing suit season.
500 days of summer has a lot of charm in its refreshing downtown yuppie style, discovering parts of LA with the lens not before exposed in such a whimsical light. Loved the concept of the jumbled relationship told in disorganized snapshots, excellent charismatic actors, cool music video camera work. Wished there had been more from summer, more of a two-sided Before Sunset feel than "she's just not that into you.". Hard to watch cluelessness from JGL for two hours without deciding he's kind of a moron for pursuing someone with no interest in him beyond careless amusement. This is not a love-story the film makes very clear from the get-go but it certainly makes one question every failed relationship you've had. Was I living in a music video of one?
Funny People was, well, brilliant. Such honesty and such an excellent ensemble piece filled with humor and autheticity. There is no question in my mind that this is based in reality--Sandlers empire based on personal insecurities and unprovoked meanness, rogen's goofy everymanness, mann's failed melrose babe career. There are so many excellent moments in this film--from the funny--the standup, the rapor between the comedians to the sincere--watching the daughter sing Memory with George Simmons checking his phone...perfect. I one-hundred percent believed this movie and was invested in the characters' lives. People never change and to expect otherwise is a symptom of insanity. Definitely a top ten not to be lost in bathing suit season.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
One of my favorite things in the world is the midnight movie. True fact. I am not referring to Rocky Horror, but rather any film that should be seen at midnight, opening night (AM), with a large possibly-costumed-definitely-nerdy crowd who will be very vocal and very clued into whatever insider jokes/moments the filmmaker offers up. To me, the midnight movie blurs the line between film and theatre. My first phrase: Coming to a feater near you. At a young age, I knew what I liked.
Seeing Harry Potter 6, the newest installment of the seven/eight part series, exemplifies the midnight movie. You have a fan base, eclectic in demographics, costumes (I saw people with wands, caps, stuffed owls, and lightning bolt scars--sweet sweet merchandise), a summer blockbuster (grossed 100 mil in one day), and a series...there is a cliffhanger, there is a loyalty to the series and also an anticipation of what's to come. Attendance at a midnight premiere suggests you cannot wait a single second more to see this film. It will be all you speak of at the water cooler or summer day camp for the next three weeks.
By 11 PM at 84th and Broadway, the slumber party was well underway. Every single screen at the cineplex would be showing HP6 at 12:01 or 12:05 (theatres with earlier shows of Transformers 2). Youngsters with jumbo sized popcorns in Griffyndor pajamas. Happiness is crooked glasses on a 14 year old with a lightning bolt scar scrawled in eyeliner.
The film was great. I am not hasty in this review because I agree this was exposition heavy, rather than action which comes as a disappointment to passionate Potter fans. But fundamentally, they achieved something that the other films dreamt of -- cinematic adaptation -- a mood and texture synthesized using filmic techniques which highlighted important moments of the story. This isn't a scene-shot, scene-shot strung together nonsensically. There is build and there is tension. The bargaining scene between Mrs. Malfoy, Strange, and Snape -- brilliant, felt cold and isolating like Kubrick's The Shining labyrinth, and dramatic like a good Arthur Miller act. The quidditch play was exciting and dangerous in a way never before felt. We saw bits of Hogwarts that were grandiose without being solely exterior shots of gothic architecture. And we had comedy and awkwardness.
But to see these films again -- in an emptier theatre, on netflix, worse on an iphone screen, not the same. They live and die in the midnight movie to me. Not to be revisited or recreated like live theatre.
Seeing Harry Potter 6, the newest installment of the seven/eight part series, exemplifies the midnight movie. You have a fan base, eclectic in demographics, costumes (I saw people with wands, caps, stuffed owls, and lightning bolt scars--sweet sweet merchandise), a summer blockbuster (grossed 100 mil in one day), and a series...there is a cliffhanger, there is a loyalty to the series and also an anticipation of what's to come. Attendance at a midnight premiere suggests you cannot wait a single second more to see this film. It will be all you speak of at the water cooler or summer day camp for the next three weeks.
By 11 PM at 84th and Broadway, the slumber party was well underway. Every single screen at the cineplex would be showing HP6 at 12:01 or 12:05 (theatres with earlier shows of Transformers 2). Youngsters with jumbo sized popcorns in Griffyndor pajamas. Happiness is crooked glasses on a 14 year old with a lightning bolt scar scrawled in eyeliner.
The film was great. I am not hasty in this review because I agree this was exposition heavy, rather than action which comes as a disappointment to passionate Potter fans. But fundamentally, they achieved something that the other films dreamt of -- cinematic adaptation -- a mood and texture synthesized using filmic techniques which highlighted important moments of the story. This isn't a scene-shot, scene-shot strung together nonsensically. There is build and there is tension. The bargaining scene between Mrs. Malfoy, Strange, and Snape -- brilliant, felt cold and isolating like Kubrick's The Shining labyrinth, and dramatic like a good Arthur Miller act. The quidditch play was exciting and dangerous in a way never before felt. We saw bits of Hogwarts that were grandiose without being solely exterior shots of gothic architecture. And we had comedy and awkwardness.
But to see these films again -- in an emptier theatre, on netflix, worse on an iphone screen, not the same. They live and die in the midnight movie to me. Not to be revisited or recreated like live theatre.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Transformers 2, Year One, and Bruno
The boys club of summer flicks: scotum slapstick, CGI enhanced robot babes and well Sascha Baron Cohen:
Year One can't ride the "so bad it's good" bandwagon. I don't know why neither Jack Black nor Michael Cera were able to recgonize the devoid of humor Monty python ripoff. It had so much potential yet flatlined from the first scene. I am reminded of movies this could have been: Tropic Thunder, Robin Hood Men in Tight, maybe Spaceballs? The setup is so precarious. Take contemporary comedians and insert them into a revival of a film formula--the silly caveman. Hard though if they don't buy into the world and thus are unable to richly lampoon it. We are left with a lot of awkward actors in stupid laugh setups. They just want to be themselves.
Trannies 2 clocks in at 2:45 which is actually too long for a midnight showing. Or maybe it speaks to the commitment of its fans to persevere through bad pacing and epic explosions. To critique Revenge of the Fallen is like yelling at a donut for not being a raspberry tarts with peach compote. It never claimed to be anything but empty bland calories. If you are on board for that, as most midnight screeners or obese Americans are, own it. We are in a recession--let the people have their bread and circuses.
Bruno--a friend said, with SBC, if you don't get the joke, you are the joke. He is very talented and the situations in his second full-length adventure (wow, even that sounds dirty) are pretty absurd. I laughed a bunch, sometimes out of shock, response to cleverness or prudish discomfort. The latter only being a sort of mediated laugh, like I would laugh here but would the person judge me. Do I care? I mean we are all here to laugh. But also maybe to think. Homophobia (bruno) might present just as serious a threat to our social fabric as xenophobia (Borat). Still think the wit in Borat was stronger but have also seen it several times. Maybe Bruno will dig deeper next time. Wow. Mind in gutter.
Year One can't ride the "so bad it's good" bandwagon. I don't know why neither Jack Black nor Michael Cera were able to recgonize the devoid of humor Monty python ripoff. It had so much potential yet flatlined from the first scene. I am reminded of movies this could have been: Tropic Thunder, Robin Hood Men in Tight, maybe Spaceballs? The setup is so precarious. Take contemporary comedians and insert them into a revival of a film formula--the silly caveman. Hard though if they don't buy into the world and thus are unable to richly lampoon it. We are left with a lot of awkward actors in stupid laugh setups. They just want to be themselves.
Trannies 2 clocks in at 2:45 which is actually too long for a midnight showing. Or maybe it speaks to the commitment of its fans to persevere through bad pacing and epic explosions. To critique Revenge of the Fallen is like yelling at a donut for not being a raspberry tarts with peach compote. It never claimed to be anything but empty bland calories. If you are on board for that, as most midnight screeners or obese Americans are, own it. We are in a recession--let the people have their bread and circuses.
Bruno--a friend said, with SBC, if you don't get the joke, you are the joke. He is very talented and the situations in his second full-length adventure (wow, even that sounds dirty) are pretty absurd. I laughed a bunch, sometimes out of shock, response to cleverness or prudish discomfort. The latter only being a sort of mediated laugh, like I would laugh here but would the person judge me. Do I care? I mean we are all here to laugh. But also maybe to think. Homophobia (bruno) might present just as serious a threat to our social fabric as xenophobia (Borat). Still think the wit in Borat was stronger but have also seen it several times. Maybe Bruno will dig deeper next time. Wow. Mind in gutter.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Up!, Away We Go, The Hangover
Haikus on a few summer flicks.
Up
Must see in three-D
Bawled for first ten minutes straight
Pixar does no wrong
Away We Go
Slackers in a car
Wax poetic about love
Emo tunes abound
The Hangover
Frat pack in Vegas
Drinks flow and chaos ensues
Ouch, insane sunburn
Up
Must see in three-D
Bawled for first ten minutes straight
Pixar does no wrong
Away We Go
Slackers in a car
Wax poetic about love
Emo tunes abound
The Hangover
Frat pack in Vegas
Drinks flow and chaos ensues
Ouch, insane sunburn
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