Tuesday, December 21, 2010
More Odds and Ends
1. Another great video mashup of 2010 movies (more of an 'indie' feel).
2. Another. Probably my favorite so far.
3. Here's the actual 1993 documentary about Lowell, MA that is shown being filmed during The Fighter. Its got a lot of Dick Eklund and is probably among the most depressing 59 minutes I've ever spent (but I love that kind of thing).
4. Larry David writes about the extension of the tax cuts.
Monday, December 20, 2010
DVD and Blu-ray Releases 12/21/10
Bounty - #
Devil - #
Easy A - #
Family Guy: It's a Trap! - #
Futurama: Volume 5 - #
Salt - #
Step Up 3 - #
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps - #
Click below for this week's Blu-ray releases
The Matador
Once an Eagle
Orlando
# - also on Blu-ray
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Odd and Ends [updated]
1. Great write-up of the year in film from AO Scott. And another from Manola Dargis.
2. David O. Russell discusses a scene from The Fighter.
3. Lawyer fave David Denby lists his top films. He rips both Inception and Black Swan...
4. A seasonal essay from Ricky Gervais on why he's an atheist. An excellent column on the role of religion in society (and the difficulty of being a Christian at Christmas).
5. I meant to put this up a couple of months ago. I could watch Eric Schmidt talk forever.
Snap Judgments - A Quick Review of 10 Movies
Restrepo
Documentary filmmakers Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger spent a year in the Korengal valley in Afghanistan with a US platoon. You are literally put in the middle of battles which are frightening and invigorating at once. The soldier interviews are a terrific view of their mindset and experiences. These guys have more guts than me - and have my utmost respect. Currently, it's the definitive film about the Afghanistan War - needless to say - a difficult situation with zero organization on the ground and tribes of people unwilling to take greater responsibility and leadership roles. B+
The Kids Are All Right
Maybe, but the movie is not. As lawyer pointed out in his generous review, the first 30 minutes are difficult to watch (mostly the gay male porn, but everything else including the unrealistic relationships and the superfluous drug use). It's so detestable that the film never recovered for me, even as Julianne Moore and Annette Bening give believable, heartfelt performances. Mark Ruffalo is doing his naturalistic, relaxed awesome thing, but it's nothing new. The Joni Mitchell singalong was embarrassing and supporting cast was forgettable. I'm pretty sure Ruffalo wouldn't dump a super hot 20-something for a freckled worn out 50 year old albino. The film knows nothing about men (e.g. no heterosexual man really likes Joni Mitchell). Give Bening an Australian accent and some junk, and the film is the last third of Funny People - without the insight. I'm tempted to give it a C since it's been ridiculously overpraised but it's so well-acted by the veteran ladies that it deserves better than Grown Ups. B-
When You're Strange
It's about a straightforward documentary about The Doors as you'll ever see, narrated by a borderline comatose Johnny Depp. The archival footage is a treasure trove for fans and some (if not all) of the music is timeless. B
The Crazies
Timothy Olyphant and Radha Mitchell are a married couple in a small town whose members start turning into zombies. There are several good action scenes (especially the car wash). The movie tries to become about something (commitment, loyalty) and is successful as far as it wants to go (or can, given the limitations of the genre). B
The Runaways
The formation of the all-female band (which included the great Joan Jett) in the mid-70s is well-told early on but loses steam toward the end when it can't decide if it wants to follow the band or lead singer Cherie Currie's relationship with her sister. When it tries to do both, it becomes muddled. Still, nice ending with Jett and Currie trying to connect over a phone call. Kristen Stewart (Jett) and Dakota Fanning (Currie) are great and will be with us as long as they want to. B
Predators
Adrien Brody playing a military bad-ass is obviously questionable casting but he does better than expected. The film is a semi-remake of the original Schwarzenegger version with a group of people getting killed off one at a time within the jungle. It's watchable and easily Nimrod Antal's best film - which says nothing. The action is solid and the last fight with the Japanese Yakuza almost got transcendental. B-
Clash of the Titans
An update of the 1981 cult classic, which goes from bad to worse. Ralph Fiennes and Liam Neeson re-team as Zeus and his son Hades, each competing for most embarrassing performance. Wooden Sam Worthington was expected to suck and he does. C
Prince of Persia
Jake Gyllenhaal cashes a paycheck and tries to start a franchise. The ability to briefly rewind time is interesting but the whole affair is so generic and humorless, that you'll feel cheated. C
Jonah Hex
You can't have a hero with half of his face scarred off. You can't see his wife and child burned alive. You can't set a film in the 1860s and pretend there's any tension when Washington DC is threatened with destruction. You can't expect Megan Fox to show any depth or chemistry with anyone. Except her bustier, of course. C-
Boogie Woogie
Stunt casting with Heather Graham will trick PTA fans into a looksy. The "gratuitous nudity" described by the MPAA is of the full frontal male variety. The "insider" look into the art world is just as boring, ridiculous, and detached as you'd expect. D+
Weekend Box Office: 12/17-12/19/10
Title/Gross/%Change/Total
1. Tron Legacy: 43.6 mil / NEW
2. Yogi Bear: 16.7 mil / NEW
3. Narnia 3: 12.4 mil / -48% / 43 mil
4. The Fighter: 12.2 mil / NEW / 12.6 mil
5. Tangled: 8.6 mil / -41% / 130 mil
6. The Tourist: 8.7 mil / -47% / 31 mil
7. Black Swan: 8.3 mil / +150% / 15.7 mil
8. How Do You Know: 7.6 mil / NEW
9. Harry Potter 7: 4.8 mil / -44% / 266 mil
10. Unstoppable: 1.8 mil / -53% / 77 mil
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Song of the Day - Ramona
By Beck
I'm still working on my mini-rave review of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. This is from the soundtrack. There's a much longer version, but I prefer the acoustic one.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Song of the Day: Runaway
Still angry at Kanye for stealing TSwift's moment? Well, why she's busy working on the content for "Dear Jake", you can keep hatin' him. No one's blaming you. But here's something to listen to while you do.
Continue reading this postThe Fighter - A-
In theaters, Rated R for language and drug use.
Boxing easily makes the best sports movies. In part, it's the isolated competition with the opponent but also the competition from within. The lack of bats, clubs, and balls makes it more personal. The lack of teammates lays the groundwork for great tales of personal adaptation, triumph, and redemption. The Fighter tells the story of Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg) which is similar to Jim Braddock in Cinderella Man: a modest career followed by a brief retirement and a broken hand; then, a return to the ring and an unlikely championship . . .
Except this time, instead of fighting for his family, Ward fights for pride. The first half of the film follows Micky as he is mismanaged by his overbearing mother Alice (Melissa Leo) and his brother Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale), a former boxer and current crack addict. They get him into matches they shouldn't and guilt him into staying close to his family instead of taking care of himself. After a brutal loss, Micky retires and enjoys time with Charlene (Amy Adams) who he has just met. She encourages him to take up boxing again. After Dicky goes to prison, Micky's training goes into overdrive after watching an HBO documentary on crack addiction, which heavily featured his brother and their hometown of Lowell, Massachusetts.
At this point, the film really takes off. Initially, it's a modestly successful depiction of the working class and their self-inflicted struggles. Then, it quickly becomes the most exhilarating film of the year. Part of this is due to director David O. Russell's musical choices and part of this is the acting. Like one of Micky's matches, the film lulls you to sleep before landing an unbelievable combination of punches that will knock you flat. Russell doesn't rely on any special tricks, choosing a documentary style instead. The boxing matches are filmed on video, which helps with the authenticity, as does the 90s era graphics.
Leo and Wahlberg are fine but slightly too theatrical and stilted, respectively. I wasn't completely sold on Bale's performance during the first half, where it felt too mannered. But when he goes to jail (and gets off crack), he finds the heart of the character, beginning with a one-on-one talk with a visiting Micky. Bale's singing of Whitesnake's "Here I Go Again" as he walks Micky down the aisle to the title bout is surprisingly touching and appropriate on many levels. The performance of the film belongs to Ms. Adams, who doesn't hit a false note - every expression, line, and word is perfect.
There are other flaws, including the underdeveloped sisters and audience-pandering attempts at humor. The last bout's competitor is unnecessarily and distractingly unsympathetic. But you better see a cardiologist if you're not cheering during the last 45 minutes - not only for Micky to win, but also for Dicky to prevail over his personal demons. It's a triumph - in and out of the ring. A-
Thursday, December 16, 2010
2010 Film Compilation
This is a great compilation of the year in film (I love these) set to the Killers' Dustland Fairytale.
Continue reading this postTrue Grit, A-
If it is a rootin’ tootin’, gun-slingin’, horse-back-ridin’ bit of entertainment you are after this Oscar season, True Grit is your film. And if it is a study on redemption, retribution, and justice—and the high cost to be paid for any of the three—you are after, well, True Grit is your film as well. The Brothers Coen, like Clint Eastwood (whose Unforgiven was the last western that betters this one), have the commendable trait of turning out a movie nearly every year. Three years ago, that movie was No Country for Old Men, as good a film as any since. While they have released two films in the balance (Burn After Reading and A Serious Man) Grit is the sequel to Old Men in scope and spectacle. That said, spiritually it continues a conversation begun in A Serious Man, though taking a different tack.
It is worth noting that I have not seen the original movie by the same name, responsible for getting The Duke his lone Academy Award, so I am afraid you are left to your own devices in securing a comparison of the two. The plot in a nutshell is as follows: fourteen year-old Mattie Ross’s father is killed trying to help Tom Chaney, a wanted man, after which Chaney bolts for the Indian TerritorieProxy-Connection: keep-alive
Cache-Control: max-age=0
Mattie comes to finish her father’s affairs, which include, to her way of thinking, bringing his killer to justice. This she plans to do by securing the services of a U.S. Marshall to bring him in or kill him. She chooses Marshall Rooster Cogburn for his ruthlessness and the two along with Texas Ranger LaBoeuf set off to track him.
Jeff Bridges’ Cogburn at first feels like a caricature, but there is depth to this performance and to this man who wants everyone to believe he is a mumbling, braggadocios drunk, good for nothing but killing and whiskey. The caricature is Cogburn’s creation, not Bridges’, and it is in this realization that the power of his performance is seen. It is great to see Matt Damon not in Bourne mode. His LaBoeuf is equal parts bluster and earnest, and he wrings every laugh out of the role while preserving LaBoeuf’s dignity—no easy feat. Josh Brolin as Tom Chaney is not on the screen more than ten minutes, but he brings a shifty brutality and friendliness that is its own special kind of menace. From these towering actors actual fourteen year-old Hailee Steinfeld literally rides off with the movie in her portrayal of Ross. She is the beating heart of the film, the one who indeed has true grit. And she is in danger, always more than she knows, of losing more than she can hope to win in her single-minded pursuit of retribution. Predictably, the balance of the supporting cast is outstanding. I will single out Barry Pepper as Ned Pepper since I have not seen him much in a while, he is one of my favorite character actors, and he has the good luck of enjoying the same distinctive last name as his character.
The script here is a dream. Per usual, the Coens squeeze more real (and hard) laughs out of their dramas than most comedies can muster. The dialogue makes no pretense of being authentic. It is Shakespeare for cowboys, stilted in the vein of George Clooney’s lines from O Brother, except this time those words are in everyone’s mouth. That may bother some, but this writing is rivaled by only Tarantino in today’s cinema, and they know exactly what they are doing. The Coen’s regular cinematographer Roger Deakins gives us a breath-taking film, with especially gorgeous shots of night and in the snow. The filming of a long ride across the plains on a galloping horse with a sick Ross in Cogburns arms is like nothing I have ever seen before, at the same time feverishly surreal and starkly realistic.
The Coen Brothers continue to use religion to underpin their films. While this has been documented a number of times, it may be most evident in their last film, A Serious Man, which used the structures of Judaism extensively. This film begins with a quote from Proverbs, uses significant Biblical imagery (most notably snakes), alludes repeatedly to the afterlife, and uses hymns exclusively for the soundtrack, with “Leaning on the Ever-Lasting Arms” serving as the primary theme. Whether they are using faith as a device only or actually mean to say something about it, I have not yet determined, although I am tempted to go with the latter. Of course, as they say, to a man with a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
A very good film. It started as a B+ for me, but aged quite nicely over night into an A-. I am interested to see what local Coen expert Doctor has to add.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
All Good Things - B-
In theaters (and OnDemand). Rated R, 101 minutes. Trailer.
Like The Social Network, All Good Things tells a slightly fictionalized account of the life of an extraordinary person. Unlike The Social Network, All Good Things is an uneven film that never quite figures out what its trying to do. Directed by Andrew Jarecki, a veteran documenatarian (Capturing the Friedmans), the film tells the creepy story of Robert Durst, the scion of a powerful New York family with deep mental disturbances related to his witnessing of his mother's suicide at the age of 7. Click below for more on AGT:
Durst is depicted ably by Ryan Gosling, who captures the undercurrent of psychosis very well. Kirsten Dunst plays his middle-class wife and Frank Langella is the overbearing father. The film doesn't really try to be meaningful, but it isn't that entertaining either, so you are kind of left out in the cold. Jarecki would've been much better served telling this story as a documentary. If you are going to watch it, don't read up on Durst to at least preserve some of the suspense. If you aren't, you should read up on him - cross dressing, murder, sawing up bodies, novelists, Galveston....its a crazy tale.
The Tree of Life Trailer - in 12 Pictures
The high-def full trailer is available here at Apple. The imagery is incredible; I could add 100 more. Tons of sunset shots from Mr. Malick.
"Murder a Brown Snake"
Watched this classic episode of Flight of The Conchords tonight. Click here for 2 of the best minutes of tv ever. Murray's "oh my god" at :58 made me laugh 8 times tonight.
Continue reading this postTuesday, December 14, 2010
T.J. Miller
This guy was pretty great in She's Out of My League and was hilarious last night on Conan.
Golden Globe Nominations 2010
Nice work by the Hollywood Foreign Press on the dramas, not so much on the "comedies". Their nomination of Alice in Wonderland, Burlesque and the Tourist undermines the whole event.
Best Picture
'Black Swan'
'The Fighter'
'Inception'
'The King's Speech'
'The Social Network'
Click below for the full list:
Best Picture (Comedy)
'Alice in Wonderland'
'Burlesque'
'The Kids Are All Right'
'Red'
'The Tourist'
Best Director
Darren Aronofsky, 'Black Swan'
David Fincher, 'The Social Network'
Tom Hooper, 'The King's Speech'
Christopher Nolan, 'Inception'
David O. Russell, 'The Fighter'
Best Actress (Drama)
Halle Berry, 'Frankie and Alice'
Nicole Kidman, 'Rabbit Hole'
Jennifer Lawrence, 'Winter's Bone'
Michelle Williams, 'Blue Valentine'
Natalie Portman, 'Black Swan'
Best Actor (Drama)
Jesse Eisenberg, 'The Social Network'
Colin Firth, 'The King's Speech'
James Franco, '127 Hours'
Ryan Gosling, 'Blue Valentine'
Mark Wahlberg, 'The Fighter'
Best Actress (Comedy)
Annete Bening, 'The Kids Are All Right'
Anne Hathaway, 'Love and Other Drugs'
Angelina Jolie, 'The Tourist'
Julianne Moore, 'The Kids Are All Right'
Emma Stone, 'Easy A'
Best Actor (Comedy)
Johnny Depp, 'Alice in Wonderland'
Johnny Depp, 'The Tourist'
Paul Giamatti, 'Barney's Version'
Jake Gyllenhaal, 'Love and Other Drugs'
Kevin Spacey, 'Casino Jack'
Best Supporting Actor (Drama)
Christian Bale, 'The Fighter'
Michael Douglas, 'Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps'
Andrew Garfield, 'The Social Network'
Jeremy Renner, 'The Town'
Geoffrey Rush, 'The King's Speech'
Best Supporting Actress (Drama)
Amy Adams, 'The Fighter'
Helena Bonham Carter, 'The King's Speech'
Mila Kunis, 'Black Swan'
Melissa Leo, 'The Fighter'
Jackie Weaver, 'Animal Kingdom'
Best Song
"Bound to You," Burlesque
"Coming Home," Country Strong
"I See the Light," Tangled
"There's a Place for Us," Chronicles of Narnia: Dawn Treader
"You Haven't Seen the Last of Me," Burlesque
Original Score
'The King's Speech'
'Alice in Wonderland'
'127 Hours'
'The Social Network'
'Inception'
Best Screenplay
'127 Hours'
'The Kids Are All Right'
'Inception'
'The King's Speech'
'The Social Network'
Foreign Language
'Biutiful'
'The Concert'
'The Edge'
'I Am Love'
'In a Better World'
Best Animated Film
'Despicable Me'
'How to Train Your Dragon'
'The Illusionist'
'Tangled'
'Toy Story 3'
Monday, December 13, 2010
DVD and Blu-ray Releases 12/14/10
24: Season 8 - #
The A-Team - #
Cyrus - #
Dear Mr. Gacy - #
Despicable Me - #
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work - #
Legend of the Guardians - # (12/17)
Micmacs - #
Mother and Child - #
Nanny McPhee Returns - #
The Other Guys - #
The Town - # (12/17)
Click below for this week's Blu-ray releases
The Black Pirate
Hard Boiled - *
Harsh Times
True Grit (1969)
Vampire Circus
# - also on Blu-ray
* - Doctor approved
Song of the Day - The Hanukkah Song
By Adam Sandler
Hanukkah has ended but this still seems appropriate this week.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Black Swans on 30 Rock
From the most recent episode. Will Forte as Natalie Portman in Black Swan and Jane Krakowski as Lynn Swann: two black swans.
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