Archive for September, 2008
September 27th, 2008
One of the all-time greats — and maybe the last great movie star — died Friday at the age of 83 after a battle with lung cancer.
Born in Shaker Heights, Ohio, Paul Newman had a string of classics on his resume that few actors can come close to: THE HUSTLER, COOL HAND LUKE, HUD, THE VERDICT, THE STING, BUTCH CASSIDY & THE SUNDANCE KID and several others.
My favorite Newman movies might not hit the critically sanctioned “classic” level of the above films, but they’re both on my all-time top 10 list. In 1994’s THE HUDSUCKER PROXY, Newman is wonderfully evil as scheming executive Sidney J. Mussberger, and in 1977’s SLAP SHOT, Newman shows an amazing talent for broady, bawdy comedy as hockey coach “Reg” Dunlop. I could watch either movie at any time, and a lot of that is because of Newman.
Newman played plenty of troubled characters, but he always had a twinkle in his eye, a way of letting the viewer know that no matter how bad things looked, he was trying to figure out a solution to the problem, and he figured he’d find it, too. He had as much pure charisma as any actor who ever stepped in front of a camera, and he put his talents to good use, starring in good films, avoiding the bad ones and speaking out on issues he believed in.
My daughter is 3, and one of her favorite movies is Pixar’s CARS. She only knows Paul Newman as the voice of Doc Hudson (a character that celebrated Newman’s love of auto racing — and looks to be his last screen credit.) I look forward to the years of movie watching ahead, when I can show her all the other great movies Doc Hudson’s voice has starred in.
September 26th, 2008
With economic issues dominating the week’s news, seems like a good time to look back at another era of bleak economic news. GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933 was a Warner Bros. musical from the early days of the Great Depression that managed to combine dazzling dance numbers (courtesy of the legendary Busby Berkeley) with genuine social comment.
The film begins with Ginger Rogers leading a rousing chorus of “We’re in the Money” that ends mid-song as creditors barge into the rehearsal and repo the props and costumes. It ends even more impressively, with Joan Blondell and Etta Motten singing this tribute to the guys who won World War I only to lose the economic battles that followed. It’s long — but well worth watching.
September 25th, 2008
I have no idea when (or if) it will arrive in Rockford, but I’m excited about SYNEDOCHE, NEW YORK, the new movie written — and this time directed — by Charlie Kaufman.
Kaufman, of course, is the guy who wrote BEING JOHN MALKOVICH, ADAPTATION and one of my all-time favorites, ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND. He’s known for twisty, mind-bending plots, but this time, he might have outdone himself. SYNEDOCHE is about a playwright (Philip Seymour Hoffman) who writes a “massive theater piece” about himself, hires actors to play himself and his friends, then builds a full-scale replica of New York inside of a warehouse.
I don’t quite understand it either, but here’s the trailer…Â Â
And here’s the poster, which is all kinds of beautiful…
SYNEDOCHE has been shown at a few festivals, and critics say it’s complicated but brilliant. I know Kaufman gets knocked by some for writing movies that are weird-for-weird sake, but I think he’s the most interesting screenwriter working today, using imaginative methods to create powerful stories about identity, ambition and love.
September 24th, 2008
According to a press release received by the fine folks at Cinematical, the 2000 movie (and Bret Easton Ellis novel) could be headed to Broadway. As they report, “The Johnson-Roessler Company, The Collective and XYZ Films have partnered to acquire, develop and produce the live stage version.”
I enjoyed Mary Harron’s movie and Ellis’ original novel (They’re both comedies, believe it or not, though Ellis’ book is considerably darker and more detailed in its descriptions of the murders.)Â and think this is the sort of over-the-top tale that could succeed on Broadway, with its 1980s New York setting, pop soundtrack (Huey Lewis! Phil Collins! Whitney Houston!) and stylized set pieces. It’s doubtful Christian Bale would return to the role of Patrick Bateman (and he was amazing in the movie), but as Cinematical points out, the guy proved he can sing in NEWSIES.
What? You don’t think a bloody story of a serial killer could work as a musical? What about this one?Â
September 22nd, 2008
It’s a double feature this week, gang — reviews of the new extras-laded DVDs of RISKY BUSINESS and L.A. CONFIDENTIAL …
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And, if you want to read the print version of the review, click here.
September 22nd, 2008
… the good news is, it’s going to be in IMAX 3-D. Here’s the news, courtesy of the folks at Cinematical:
What bits will zoom out into the audience? [Sources at EMPIRE magazine]Â say that 25 minutes, total, will be in 3D, which will be split between the opening and the finale. They are guessing that it’s Voldemort’s attacks and the Astronomy Tower showdown.
Haven’t read the books (I know, I know…) so I’m not familiar with either of those scenes, but I have to say I’m impressed how the big magic battle was handled at the climax of HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX. It never descended into a boring showcase for CGI effects, and so many magic scenes do. It was genuinely exciting and surprising.
September 19th, 2008
Here’s a nicely written piece by Stefan Kanfer about black-and-white movies and why they’ve got a timeless appeal that color films can never quite achieve. As Kanfer says …
Black-and-white film was Hollywood’s principal offering from the silent era to the late 1930s. Then, curious ticket buyers began flocking to rainbows like GONE WITH THE WIND and THE WIZARD OF OZ —the Technicolor era had opened. Confined to lower budgets, B&W producers and directors battled back. Emphasizing narrative, they came up with fresh pictorial techniques: stark, angular shots; tight close-ups of the stars; backgrounds that evoked a vital sense of place. En route, they insisted on lean, incisive scenarios and musical scores that enhanced every emotion from pathos to hilarity.
Kanfer goes on to argue how the strongest films in many genres — horror and noir, of course, but also comedy, drama and even musicals — are black and white, listing dozens of examples that’ll make you want to either turn the dial to Turner Classics or reconfigure your Netflix queue. Looking back on my own list of favorite films, I’m not surprised that seven of the 10 are black-and-white movies — THE APARTMENT, CAT PEOPLE, THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE, SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS, A FACE IN THE CROWD, DR. STRANGELOVE and THE BLACK CAT. Off the top of my head, I could easily add THE SEVENTH VICTIM, OUT OF THE PAST, MAD LOVE, FIVE STAR FINAL, THE FOUNTAINHEAD, SUNSET BLVD., KING KONG, THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE, MEET JOHN DOE and several others.
It’s not like I can’t see the appeal of color movies, and used correctly, the full pallette of colors can be a beautiful thing, too. But there’s something about black and white, so undeniably cinematic, that it’s almost impossible to verbalize. You just have to feel it on some level. I mean, look at that picture of Simone Simon from CAT PEOPLE at the top of this entry. Is there anyway possible that color — any color, no matter how skillfully applied — could improve it?
No, there’s not. And that’s the beauty of black and white.
September 19th, 2008
Here, in less than a minute, is one of the all-time bits of movie dialogue, written by Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler and delivered by Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray in 1944’s DOUBLE INDEMNITY…
September 18th, 2008
The Onion AV Club’s excellent New Cult Canon finally works its way around to David Fincher’s 1999 masterpiece about office drones, broken bones and DIY explosives, FIGHT CLUB. Writer Scott Tobias delivers a smart defense of the film, and the peanut gallery chimes in with hundreds of comments (some smart, some less so).
When FIGHT CLUB hit theaters nine years ago, many mainstream critics — most of them baby boomers — called it irresponsible, fascist and downright dangerous. These were some of the same writers who praised earlier controversial films, such as A CLOCKWORK ORANGE and STRAW DOGS, but having the message aimed at a younger generation apparently upped the fascism factor. Here, for instance, is what Roger Ebert said…
FIGHT CLUB is the most frankly and cheerfully fascist big-star movie since DEATH WISH, a celebration of violence in which the heroes write themselves a license to drink, smoke, screw and beat one another up.
What’s funny is how the condemnations of the boomers solidified FIGHT CLUB as a Gen X movie. (In his AV Club piece, Tobias calls it “the quintessential Generation X film.”) The DVD release, in fact, included many of those critical quotes in its self-aware packaging. Its cult has only grown in the last nine years, and though many people — even its fans — miss some of its complexities and ambiguities, it still ranks as one of the best films of the last 25 years.
September 17th, 2008
Samuel L. Jackson and Ruby Dee in a scene from the 1991 movie JUNGLE FEVER.
Samuel L. Jackson stars in LAKEVIEW TERRACE, which opens in theaters this weekend. I’ve only seen the trailer, so I have no idea if the movie is any good or not, but I do know one thing: It’s good to see Jackson playing an imposing figure once again. In TERRACE, he plays a mean cop, and judging by the trailer, he makes the most the character’s nasty streak.
The reason I’m posting this today is that last night, while dozing off on the couch, I happened to stumble across Spike Lee’s 1991 film, JUNGLE FEVER. I saw it in the theater during its initial release, and remember thinking it was a pretty solid drama, with the usual ham-handed moments from Spike. Watching it again last night, those ham-handed moments pretty much doomed the entire movie. I could barely make out the story of the interracial romance between Wesley Snipes and Annabella Sciorra over the film’s social posturing, speeches-as-dialogue script and noodling jazz score.
What saved JUNGLE FEVER was Samuel Jackson. In one of his first big roles, Jackson played Snipes’ crack addict brother, and he’s so compelling you wish the movie was about him and not wishy washy Wesley. Whenever he’s onscreen, Jackson is electrifying, whether it’s bumming money from his well-to-do brother or threatening his holier-than-thou dad (the late Ossie Davis). He’s funny, charming, pathetic, desperate and dangerous. But, unlike the rest of the movie, he’s never boring. Too bad he didn’t nab a Best Supporting Actor nomination, because he definitely deserved one.
(Playing his fellow crackhead, by the way, was a very young — and virtually unrecognizable — Halle Berry). Â
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