Archive for February, 2008
February 28th, 2008
“He’s never seen this movie or “Dr. Zhivago”? What’s his problem?
In this piece that ran last Sunday, San Francisco Chronicle film critic Mick LaSalle confessed that he’d never seen some films generally considered classics, then watched them and wrote up some short reviews. (For the record, he was unimpressed by TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, generally amused by YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, impressed and entertained by AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER, impressed but not entertained by BLADE RUNNER, and bored by 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY.)
There’s been some debate among movie bloggers whether admitting these gaps in his film watching was brave or having such gaps was lazy. (Actually, I think not seeing 2001 in a city where it gets shown on a big screen every year is pretty lazy, but that’s not why I’m bringing up LaSalle’s confession.) Instead, I want to make a confession of my own and own up to some of the classics I’ve never seen. If you have seen them, convince me to watch them (or argue why I shouldn’t). And, if you want, confess to some of the classic movies you’ve never seen, either.
LAWRENCE OF ARABIA: I know, I know, it’s a great epic. It won the Best Picture Oscar. It features some of the most breathtaking cinematography ever captured on film. But the odds of seeing it on an actual movie screen are pretty slim these days, and I want it to have the full impact on my virgin eyeballs. Plus, I have to admit … it looks a little dull. I’d be happy to hear arguments to the contrary.
DR. ZHIVAGO: I know, another epic, this time with lots of snow instead of sand. But this sounds even more dull than LAWRENCE, and besides — reputation aside, is it really any good? Or is it just a big-budget soap opera? Because that’s what it looks like.
THE AFRICAN QUEEN: I love Humphrey Bogart. I like director John Huston. I can tolerate Katherine Hepburn. But I’ve never seen this movie. I guess I’m waiting for the DVD. (Though the movie ranked #17 on AFI original list of the 100 greatest American films, it still isn’t available on DVD.)
HIGH NOON: I have no good reason for not seeing this one. I even own a DVD of it. Sue me, I’m lazy.
WEST SIDE STORY: Not a big fan of musicals. Sorry.
The films of Charlie Chaplin: He’s one of the screen’s most celebrated comedians/directors, but aside from a few shorts and THE GREAT DICTATOR, I’ve seen very few of his movies. THE GOLD RUSH? No. CITY LIGHT? Nope. MODERN TIMES? Uh uh. I guess what I have seen just didn’t connect with me. Maybe it’s because I find Chaplin too maudlin and desperate for audience empathy. The movie comedians I like — Buster Keaton, the Marxes, W.C. Fields — are a lot less sentimental. Sorry, Charlie.
So that’s my list of movie confessions. Be sure to share your own in the comments section so I’m not the only one feeling guilty. And speaking of confessions — and the title of this post — I’ve seen plenty of Hitchcock, but I’ve never seen his 1953 movie, I CONFESS either.
February 27th, 2008
Now that the chaos of Oscar season is over, let’s cleanse our palates with a bit of cinematic sorbet. Here’s the 1977Â classic STARÂ WARS as explained by a three-year-old girl:
 [kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/EBM854BTGL0" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
February 25th, 2008
Any Oscar ceremony that has the Coen brothers picking up more than one statue is at least halfway decent, and the wins for Javier Bardem and Daniel Day-Lewis didn’t exactly come as a surprise. Marion Cotillard’s win for LA VIE EN ROSE sure did, though — did anyone predict that?
A few of my favorite moments:
1. Jon Stewart inviting Marketa Irglova back onstage after the commercial after the orchestra (rudely) played her off before she could make any sort of acceptance speech for winning the Best Original Song Oscar for “Falling Slowly” from ONCE (with Glen Hansard, who did get a chance to speak).
2. Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill arguing which of them was more like Halle Berry while presenting the sound awards. This bit of comedy was genuinely funny, unlike most scripted bits.
3. Colin Farrell and John Travolta both slipping on the same spot next to the mic.
4. The film-clip tributes to “Binoculars and Periscopes” and “Bad Dreams.” I wanted to see more!
5. Oh, and did everyone notice that screenplay winner Diablo Cody wore yet another leopard print dress? Can I call ‘em or can I call ‘em?
How about your most memorable Oscar moments?
February 24th, 2008
LA Weekly columnist Nikki Finke warns us to expect, and I quote, “the Worst Oscars Ever in the History of Hollywood.”
But, needless to say, we’ll all watch it anyway, and complain for however long the show lasts. That, more than anything Hollywood puts together for a time-wasting clip package, is a true show business tradition. The Oscar show is awful, we complain, then next year we rerun the same ritual. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Some things I am looking forward to:
1. As a longtime fan of the Coen brothers (ever since I saw RAISING ARIZONA in a mostly empty theater 20-plus years ago and couldn’t believe what I was watching), I’ve thought they were some of the best directors/producers/writers in the history of film, no kidding. Tonight, unless something really unexpected happens, they’re going to get honored by Oscar. Big time.
2. Jon Stewart is a funny guy. Thank god he’s hosting, and not Whoopi, Ellen or Billy (who can be funny, but not for the 475th time.) You know who else is funny? Conan O’Brien. Get him to host. I guarantee everyone in America will laugh.*
3. Josh Brolin is going to present something. I don’t know how he’ll do as a presenter, but the guy had an amazing year as an actor: GRINDHOUSE, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, AMERICAN GANGSTER and IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH. And not a single Oscar nomination. At least someone recognized his work.
4. The acceptance speeches will be, for the most part, terrible — and that’s part of the fun. If only the winners would listen to this advice from writer Jim Emerson. As he says, keep this in mind when the actors have emotional breakdowns tonight: They might not be totally sincere and spontaneous. They’re actors. This is what they do for a living. It might not be totally sincere and spontaneous.
If you get bored at some point in tonight’s Oscar show (gee — how could that happen?) check out this blog. I might post a few reactions to what’s happening in Tinseltown. They’ll probably be complaints, but like I said — would you have it any other way?
* Not a guarantee.
February 22nd, 2008
… or does she just really, really, really like leopard prints?
SATURDAY, JAN. 5: The Palm Springs International Film Festival
TUESDAY, JAN. 22: “The Late Show with David Letterman”
SUNDAY, FEB. 10: The British Academy Film Awards
Upon examination, there are some slight differences, but this reminds me of the old SIMPSONS episode where Marge bought a single Chanel suit and altered it every time she had a new event to attend. C’mon, Diablo. You’re an Oscar-nominated screenwriter. Heck, you’re probably going to win for writing JUNO. Time to spring for some new duds!
February 22nd, 2008
The Oscars get handed out Sunday night, which means the deadline is drawing near for predictions. So that’s what I want from all you movie fans. Which movie, director, actor, actress — whatever — is going to take home that career-enhancing gold statue. Choose any category (or categories) you want and pick a winner. And, for bonus points, tell me which movie (or actor or actress or whatever) you’d give the Oscar to — even if it wasn’t nominated.
I’ll reveal my picks in eight major categories this Sunday for the Beat the Movie Man contest, but here’s the big category to whet your appetite:
BEST PICTURE: After decades of making a string of brilliant movies, the Coen Brothers will finally take home the Oscar for their dark, disturbing (and refreshingly enigmatic) movie, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN. I think it’s going to take at least three other major awards, too, but this is obviously the big prize.
My personal pick would be David Fincher’s ZODIAC (which, as I pointed out here, didn’t even get a single nominee). NO COUNTRY was very good (and so was THERE WILL BE BLOOD), but I just watched the director’s cut of ZODIAC recently and was reminded how great it is. It might be three hours long, but it zips along beautifully.
How about you?
February 21st, 2008
This is the sort of thing the Academy should do for most of the technical categories. It makes the awards more interesting if you actually know why the nominees were nominated.
February 20th, 2008
It sounded like a genius move: Have Spike Jonze, the twisted genius behind ADAPTATION, BEING JOHN MALKOVICH and dozens of great music videos, handle the directing chores on WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE, a live-action take on the classic children’s book. For a long time, all we had to go by was this intriguing image, and things looked promising…
But now, reports are starting to filter out that Warner Bros., the studio behind the movie, is not happy with what Mr. Jonze is doing to their monsters. According to an article at CHUD.com, the studio is very unhappy with what they’ve seen so far, including technical issues (those monster suits are posing problems), the lead actor and the general tone of the script. Written by Jonze and Dave Eggers (author of the best-seller A HEARTBREAKING WORK OF STAGGERING GENIUS), the script is reportedly pretty dark and subversive. In other words, like the book itself.
I haven’t seen the movie, obviously, but I like Jonze and Eggers a lot, and I’d sure hope WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE could be something more ambitious than your average dopey kids movie. There aren’t many kids movies that try something different, that aim for something more than a quick-and-painless DVD release. Aside from Pixar (a perfect batting record so far), some Disney classics and some of the Harry Potter films, Â the only ones I can think of offhand are WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, THE IRON GIANT, BABE and its underrated sequel, BABE: PIG IN THE CITY. These are movies that kids could enjoy, but that they’d enjoy even more as they grew older.
Meanwhile, children’s classics like HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS and THE CAT IN THE HAT are turned into big-budget abominations, stuffed with merchandising opportunities and comedians in makeup winking at the camera. Maybe WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE would’ve been different.
Maybe we’ll never know.
February 18th, 2008
… to enter this year’s Beat the Movie Man contest. The deadline is 5 p.m. today — that’s Monday, Feb. 18 — so if you want to brag about picking more Oscar winners than me, you’d better hurry up.
The link to the contest is here. I’ll reveal my picks on Sunday, the day of the Oscars. Good luck, movie fans!
While we’re talking Oscars, here’s a trivia question: What’s unusual about Roderick Jaynes, who is nominated in the Best Film Editing category for his work on “No Country for Old Men”? No fair looking it up on the Internet.
February 15th, 2008
Given recent news events, it seems a little silly to talk about movies today. But then again, movies always have a purpose, even if sometimes it’s just as a way to escape the grim reality of daily life. So today, if the mood strikes you, post a comment listing a favorite movie or two that makes you feel a little better when you’re feeling down. Here are a few of my favorites:
DUCK SOUP (1933) It’s no wonder that, in HANNAH AND HER SISTERS, this Marx Brothers movie is what reminds Woody Allen that life is worth living after all. It’s funny, it’s silly and it’s like no other movie I’ve ever seen. Plus, it’s got none of those annoying romantic subplots or boring musical numbers that can be such a drag in other Marx movies.
THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD (1938) Movies don’t get more romantic (in every sense of the word) than this old-fashioned Technicolor adventure starring Errol Flynn as Robin and Olivia de Havilland as Maid Marian.
STAR WARS (1977) C’mon, it’s STAR WARS — what more do you need to know? Do yourself a favor and pick up the DVD with the original version that omits all that computer-generated bric-a-brac Lucas insisted on sprinkling all over the so-called “special editions.”
THE HUDSUCKER PROXY (1994) This Coen Brothers movie is both a love letter to old-style moviemaking and a brilliant piece of cinema in itself. Tim Robbins arrives in The Big City, gets appointed president of Hudsucker Industries, invents the Hula Hoop, then plunges 44 floors to the pavement (45, including the mezzanine). It’s funny, it’s visually spectacular and it has a heart, too.
 OK, those are mine. How about yours?
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