Notes from Underdog.

Dos Americas: The Reconstruction of New Orleans (film)

 (Passing this along. If you're in SF, check out the screening; if you're not, keep your eyes out for this one.)

La Raza Centro Legal and Upheaval Productions present...

Dos Americas: The Reconstruction of New Orleans
A new documentary by Upheaval Productions

Post-Katrina reconstruction is still in progress throughout the Gulf
Coast, with much of the City of New Orleans still in ruins. This
documentary focuses on those rebuilding this city through interviews with
some of the estimated 100,000 Latino migrant laborers who have converged
in this area over the past two and a half years. Despite terrible working
conditions, massive fraud, a housing crisis, severe harassment by law
enforcement, and very limited resources, New Orleans’ Latino community has
mushroomed since the storm and is establishing an infrastructure
proportional to its size.

Take a look at how this community is organizing to defend itself against
numerous injustices and the attempts to bridge the gap between themselves
as new residents and the pre-Katrina population, all within the extremely
unique and tragic context of post-Katrina New Orleans.

The film will be followed by a panel discussion with local immigrant
justice organizers and one of the filmmakers!

***¡Presentado en inglés y español!***

WEDNESDAY, JULY 30TH at 7:30PM
at the WOMEN'S BUILDING
3543 18th St. btw. Valencia and Guerrero
San Francisco, CA 94110

***THIS EVENT IS FREE***
(donations will gladly be accepted)

For more information and to see a trailer please visit:

http://www.upheavalproductions.com

PRESENTED WITH HELP FROM THE FOLLOWING ORGANIZATIONS:
La Raza Centro Legal
Upheaval Productions
San Francisco Day Labor Program
Katrina Solidarity Network
The Friendly Fire Collective
...and more to come

Oozing Ed Wood Jr. Pulp, Forgotten Films Mutate in Closet -

Passing this on from Terminal Pictures' Andre Perkowski:

Oozing Ed Wood Jr. Pulp, Forgotten Films Mutate in Closet -
Finally Pried from Death-grip of Crackpot Creator

Way back during those quaint days near the turn of the millennium, a ridiculously overambitious 22 year old me began a project to make a trilogy of feature films based on Edward D. Wood Jr. pulp novels and old screenplays. Though highly impractical and fueled by a budget 1/40th or so of Wood's films even without even accounting for inflation, I managed to shoot two of them:  "DEVIL GIRLS" and "THE VAMPIRE'S TOMB" - shot on a patchwork mix of Super-8, 8mm, 16mm, and DV - everything from hideously outdated Soviet (!) filmstocks to good old 'Merican machine gun camera film, With acres of stock footage and scrupulous dedication to the angora-ed one, a sickly joyous cathedral to his enthusiasm against all odds. It was almost a religious endeavor, the kind of strange crusade that seemed to make sense at the time. Recently, through acts of dark alchemy and forbidden science, I've assembled them into a viewable form... restored, revised, riddled with lost scenes and all that shot on film footage I could never manage to afford paying for at the time... Now it can be told! From beyond space and time, across the churning seas of bad continuity!  Here are some enticing trailers, with Phil Proctor of the Firesign Theatre doing the voiceovers:

RIP, Stan Winston.

Some running tributes to the now late, great effects pioneer are up on GreenCine Daily, MTV, Ain't It Cool News, among other places. Winston's work is up on screens right this moment in Iron Man and Indiana Jones/Crystal Skull, and he was working on the new Terminator movie, among other projects, at the time of his passing.

My first exposure to Winston, first awareness of his existence, came fairly young, well before even his famous work on Terminator and Aliens: yes, for his fine work (no, seriously!) on the bizarro Star Wars Holiday Special. (He was one of the fine members of the costume department.) Seek it out on VHS or in bootlegs  if you can. I saw it once when I was 7 and a) had no idea it was bad, and b) had no idea who Stan Winston was. But seeing it much more recently, the first was clear, and yet it's great campy fun, and the second was an amusing realization as I checked the credits. Fortunately, it didn't have a negative impact on his career.

But besides his work for James Cameron, Winston's best would have to include Jurassic Park (dinosaurs) and perhaps his most underrated work would be Galaxy Quest (animatronic and creatures FX) and Monster Squad (monsters).  His work will surely be missed, but forever appreciated.

Kung Fu Panda: No masterpiece but exceeds expectations

Kung Fu Panda
***

I expected a certain level of cuteness in Kung Fu Panda, perhaps some good voice work given the nicely eclectic cast and a few good jokes, and little more. What I saw instead was a beautifully animated, often very funny cartoon that rivals anything Pixar's done the past few years.  Sure there are cliches here and the main plot has some "don't think too hard about it" elements to it; in which Tai Lung, the evil former pupil of a Kung Fu master, escapes from prison and seeks the title of "Dragon Warrior" that he believes rightly his, a title instead, seemingly mistakenly, given to the bumbling, blubbery panda Po (voice by Jack Black). If that plot builds to a predictable face-off, the film takes off in unexpected ways and uses smart characterizations and a sly wit to gain plenty of good will. It doesn't hurt that the supporting characters -- the five pupils, Crane (comedian/actor David Cross), the confident Tigress (Angelina Jolie), the plucky Mantis (the now ubiquitous Seth Rogen), Snake (Lucy Liu), and Monkey (Jackie Chan! who has very few lines), and particularly the story's two Yoda characters, the ancient turtle Oogway (wonderfully voiced by Randall Duk Kim) and master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman), as well as Po's father (who is, for reasons that are never explained but poked fun of, a goose) and the villain Tai Lung (a perfect Ian McShane) -- are so beautifully realized in design and performance - each tweaked a bit to fit the respective actor.

Kudos, too, to the filmmakers and writers (Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger wrote the script, from a story by Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris) who refrained from inserting the anachronistic pop cultural references and easy modernist jokes that many of its peers (including Dreamworks' Shrek) have been unable to resist (there is some modern lingo used but even that is playfully handled).   

There is a great deal of slapstick in the film, and your tolerance for slapstick may ultimately decide whether or not you enjoy Kung Fu Panda, but much of these comic action set pieces are expertly handled, with inspired timing that Chuck Jones would be proud of.   And the animation, all CGI except for a dream sequence and the closing credits, is rich, colorful, well-detailed. If it offers up expected, even stereotypical Chinese landscapes-- mystical, misty, mountainous -- and style reminiscent of Chinese classical paintings, it's still pretty beautiful to look at, and even better the makers are smart enough to use the "sets" for many of the films visual jokes (including the running joke with the ridiculously high stairs that Panda has to climb) and for the film's fight sequences. And even if Po's training sequence is an entirely expected event, it's surprisingly amusing {TINY SPOILER} -- an inspired, food-based training that will, if nothing else, make you rather hungry for dumplings.

Again, it's no masterpiece, but Kung Fu Panda exceeds expectations in many ways, is always a treat to look at, and is likable throughout. And, much as with the classic Warner Bros. cartoons, offers plenty for both adults and children to appreciate together.

War, Inc.

It's always a worrisome sign when a fairly high profile release arrives as a screener DVD in one's mailbox several months before the film's opening date. Still, I had some hopes for War, Inc., given my appreciation for all things Cusack and the potential for satire in its setting.

But as it officially arrives in theaters, if it isn't a bomb, the film's about as messy as our own current situation in the Middle East.

Joshua Seftel, whose previous work included the hit and miss documentary Taking on the Kennedys, on that famous political clan, directs his first feature War, Inc. and may be a little over his head here. This absurdist political farce has its moments but requires a deft touch for satire, and with Billy Wilder no longer available, perhaps no one could have made the uneven script (by Mark Leyner, Jeremy Pikser and its star John Cusack) work.  It's ambitious, and while I don't know if some of the criticism it's received for being "already out of date" is quite fair (alas, the quagmire in Iraq is still current, even if the particulars tackled here would have been fresher a few years ago), but that's the least of its problems.

It reminded me at times of Mike Judge's also messy, but much funnier, Idiocracy; that farce showed us a dystopian future spawned by the trends in own current reality, while War, Inc. shows us a dystopian near-future based on the trends of our current reality. But while Idiocracy, which was also clunky, knew it was a satire first and foremost, War, Inc. can't really decide what it is.

In it Cusack plays Brand Hauser (the film's original title), a former hit man (channeling his Grosse Point Blank character, but never quite finding the high notes he hit in that black comedy) hired by a former American Vice President (Dan Aykroyd) now running a war profiteering corporation (shades of Haliburton) that occupies war-torn Turaqistan, to assassinate an Arab oil minister. Hauser poses as a trade show producer for the corporation, who maintains his cover by organizing the high profile wedding of a Middle Eastern pop star Yonica Babyyeah (played, yes, by Hilary Duff, as a combination of Britney, Ruby and, I suppose, herself). Things are complicated (as if they weren't already) by the arrival of a left-wing reporter (Marisa Tomei) -- we know this because it's mentioned several times, and because she's written for the Nation-- whom Hauser, of course, falls for.

The film has its share of memorable set pieces -- the Combat-a-Rama virtual reality ride for journalists wanting to experience the war from safer environs is undeniably inspired -- and amusing throw away one-liners, usually coming from the deadpan Cusack as the confused hitman. In fact, all of the cast gives it their all; Tomei is quite appealing, and even Duff gives it her all, surprises with the amount of depth she adds to a pretty one-dimensional character.  Ben Kingsley appears, making an impression in only a few scenes as Cusack's former boss, a CIA man, who's gone (or perhaps always was) a bit mental.  Kingsley gives it his all (adding this to his more front and center, and off center, performance in The Wackness) but his scenes are just, for lack of a better word, odd, though he and Cusack do have one of the more memorably bizarre fight scenes in recent memory. John's sister Joan Cusack, normally very reliable in anything she's in, overacts a bit in hysterical mode as Hauser's stressed assistant, but together the cast reflects a greater issue with coherence. Each one is often playing a different level or pitch, while the script rattles around trying to find itself.  Add in choppy editing and pacing, and War, Inc. simply doesn't work.

And while there are some good lines, there are that many more attempts at humor that come off as lazy. The name of the targeted minister? Omar Sharif. Get it? Because there was a famous actor named Omar Sharif once, and by referencing him, the film attempts -- I have no idea what!  And while, again, I don't mind that the inspiration for many of the plot lines are now a bit old, they feel too on the nose, too directly based on real life absurdity instead of actually adding something new.

And as it stumbles towards its climax, with a rather obvious "surprise" revelation and then the pop singer's anarchic wedding, whatever interest it may have garnered from the audience has long since dissipated.

Mark Leyner, one of the co-scripters, has written many inspired pieces of short fiction, and you can sport his pop cultural absurdities all over the landscape here, but like much of his writing a little goes a long way.

It's really too bad; War, Inc. could've been a contender, at a time when we could certainly use some well-targeted war satire. Maybe one will come along.

First Run Features folded into Icarus Films

Interesting tidbit from a press release I received today:

Seymour Wishman, President of First Run Features, and Jonathan Miller, President of First Run/Icarus Films, announced today that First Run Features has sold its interest in First Run/Icarus Films back to the company.

The result of this transaction is that First Run/Icarus Films is now wholly owned by Jonathan Miller, who will continue as President of the company.

Additionally, First Run/Icarus Films will change its name to Icarus Films, as of June 1, 2008.

(Some background:
First Run/Icarus Films was formed in 1987 when Icarus Films (founded in
1978) and First Run Features merged their non-theatrical divisions to create a new company to serve the non-theatrical marketplace.

Founded in 1979, First Run Features is a leading distributor of fiction and documentary films, with a library of approximately 450 titles.  First Run releases between 10 and 15 films annually in theatres, and around 50 new films per year on DVD. Recent releases have included Michael Apted’s 49 UP, Daniel Karslake’s FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO and Oren Jacoby’s CONSTANTINE’S SWORD.)

SFIFF Dispatch Redux: The Wackness

Originally posted on GreenCine Daily.

With his second feature, Jonathan Levine, New York native and once an assistant to writer-director Paul Schrader, captures his home town's vibe expertly in the uneven but ultimately winning little coming of age dramedy The Wackness. The film takes a bit of time to find its stride - but it does when Levine lets go of some of his filmic pretenses and lets the characters take hold.

Josh Peck, continuing his graduation from teen TV star to respected actor, is wholly believable and empathetic as Luke, a sad sack who has always felt a bit out of his peers' social circles. His parents are fracturing and on the brink of bankruptcy, so to earn some extra green he sells, well, green weed (hidden in an ice cream cart), and even trades some of it to a therapist in exchange for counseling sessions. These scenes will not remind anyone of Ordinary People.

As the sad sack psychotherapist Dr Squires, Sir Ben Kingsley exists in another dimension here, channeling Harvey Keitel (he even seems to reference him physically, replete with one-size-too-small bowler hat, scraggly hair and goatee), toking from a humungous bong, but there's something more to his part here. Squires is married to Kristin (Famke Janssen) and their relationship, too, is on the rocks. Even if there's a certain inevitability to a therapist's dysfunctional private life, Janssen and Kingsley bring a great deal (of bathos) to their scenes together, ultimately to heartbreaking effect.

Another SFIFF Dispatch: Shadows in the Palace and La France.

Catching up on my SFIFF Dispatches, which David Hudson kindly posted first on GreenCine Daily. I will have at least one more before all is said and done. (Well, all is said and done today, but I'll be done with the sayin' tomorrow.)
----

Shadows in the Palace

Korean filmmaker Kim Meejeung's first feature (she was an assistant director on Lee Jun-ik's Once upon a Time in the Battlefield and The King and the Clown) is a stunning, memorable, if occasionally convoluted mystery set during Korea's Chosun era. It's particularly notable for its cast of mostly female characters - the story centers around the maids who live and work as virtual prisoners in the palace of the emperor, and its protagonist is a female court doctor, Chun-ryung (Park Jin-hie), who investigates the death of one maid found hanging in her claustrophobic room. Suicide, she's told, but she suspects murder and investigates, unraveling a web of deceit, getting caught up in political maneuverings and eventually fearing for her own life.

The depiction of the period is striking, from the delicious costumes to the recreation of palace life, and the murder mystery fascinates throughout. I sensed some audience discomfort and confusion with the film's more fantastical elements, but for anyone who's seen a Korean period mystery-cum-ghost story before, these things should come as less of a surprise. Still, there are times when the story becomes a bit overly complicated for its own good (I feel the need to see it a second time just to catch up with some of the more confusing plot threads). The dialogue can be a bit expository, though, frankly at times I was grateful it was, given how convoluted it becomes as it all unspools.

SFIFF Dispatch: Art of Negative Thinking and Medicine for Melancholy

(Cross-posted from GreenCine Daily. Thanks David for the editing and linking!)

I've been trying to pick and choose among the many fine offerings at the SFIFF this year, narrowing it down to films that haven't already had a lot of play elsewhere, at least in the States, and/or that might otherwise be overlooked or that don't already have a major distributor. (Which didn't stop me from seeing The Wackness [site]; review for that one coming a bit later.) While these two films - one Norwegian, the other Californian - couldn't be more different in most ways, they both embrace the cynical sides of their protagonists, who ultimately, nonetheless, find some semblance of joy.

The Art of Negative Thinking

"If we focus on our opportunities, we can become giants."
"Small changes lead to big changes."

These are the mantras uttered by a group of disabled adults in group therapy in Bard Breien's dark comedy that goes to some unexpected places on its way through a rather simple story. Fridtjov Såheim (Hawaii, Oslo) plays a man wheelchair-bound after a car accident, moping around the house he shares with his beleaguered girlfriend Marta (the lovely Marian Ottesen), who doesn't know what to do with him. With his shaggy long hair, his weapons fixation and obsession with The Deer Hunter it's almost as if he's tricked himself into thinking he's a recovering Vietnam vet. The positive-thinking disabled group come visit him at Marta's request, and find converting him to their "cause" proves rather difficult. In fact, over the course of one evening, he'll convert them to his cause in some ways. And if this is beginning to sound potentially maudlin, Breien generally keeps things properly acerbic, while the excellent ensemble cast never veers into caricature.

 

SFIFF Dispatch: The Toe Tactic

(Cross-posted from GreenCine Daily:)

 

Animator Emily Hubley, the daughter of renowned animators John and Faith Hubley (A Windy Day, Voyage to Next), is perhaps best known for her work on Hedwig and the Angry Inch, but she's also director of a wealth of fine animated shorts. The Toe Tactic [site] is both her first feature and her first live action film and, as you'd expect and hope, that live action is interspersed with her wonderfully wobbly, colorful cartoons. In the post-screening Q&A, Hubley confessed that her original intent was to make an all-live action film, with one brief animated sequence, but then things took off, evolved... and now, animated dogs control the universe in playfully self-deprecating interludes that do a fine job of carrying the film forward.

The film stars lovely young actress Lily Rabe, who has a little bit of a young Laura Linney-ish vibe, and is the daughter of Jill Clayburgh and playwright David Rabe), along with Daniel London (Old Joy), who plays the shy elevator man who finds her appealing.

The Toe Tactic is also boosted by a wonderfully eccentric, recognizable cast of indie stalwarts - including the ubiquitous Kevin Corrigan as a neighborhood piano teacher, John Sayles as Rabe's landlord, the always reliably wacky Jane Lynch (the "fuck buddy" boss in 40 Year Old Virgin and several Christopher Guest mockumentaries) as a bitter open mic night hostess and Mary Kay Place as the worrying mother - along with voices provided by comics (David Cross, for example, as one of the animated dogs) and veteran actors (Eli "Yes I'm Still Alive" Wallach, Andrea Martin, Marian Seldes). A plot involving Rabe's friendship with an eccentric and lonely woman played by Novella Nelson gets a bit muddled along the way. The multiple character framework with the gentle comedy about yearning and loss may remind you of Miranda July's Me and You and Everyone We Know and the melancholy Australian film Look Both Ways, and while it isn't as polished as either of those films, it's charm lies in its low-key humor (the open mic night is one highlight) and sweetness.

Toe Tactic has some decidedly awkward, amateurish moments in pacing and tone, and the thin story isn't really much to hang a cartoon hat on - young woman trying to finally move past the tragic death of her father years before - but Hubley mostly resists making things too mawkish or cutesy, and the film does grow into its own as it moves along. In short, it's slight and imperfect, but so lovely and lovingly made that it's hard to pick on, too.

The appropriately moody but sweet music score is by Yo La Tengo, by the way, one of the members of which is Emily Hubley's sister Georgia.

10 Sequels That Are Better Than the Original

In honor of the release of Harold and Kumar Escape Guantanamo Bay, a sequel that may only be marginally superior to the first one in concept and laughs (and some critics are already divided on that point) what the heck, I bring you a sampling of follow-up films that very clearly improved on the originals.

In some cases, the originals have plenty of merit on their own, but for various reasons their makers felt all the more inspired for the subsequent go-round.

Mad Max 2/The Road Warrior: Not that the original Mad Max isn't pretty nifty, too, especially now that we have a non-badly dubbed version to enjoy on DVD, but the second one was more exciting, visionary and damned good storytelling. George Miller's post-apocalyptic Australia is brilliantly realized and the spectacularly brutal action set pieces make this one of my favorite action films of all time.

(Hah! Now you're hooked. Now you have to go to GreenCine to read the rest. Sorry.)

» continue reading "10 Sequels That Are Better Than the Original"

I will count the boards on this pier and you, the slits. MST3K Bergman Parody.

I've been looking for this forever. Don't know why YouTube didn't occur to me. It's from the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode The Sword and the Dragon. In honor of one of the world's greatest directors, and one of the world's worst beers, I give you...

 

Idle thoughts: The two sides of Charlton Heston? And his top 6.

It's interesting to think, in the wake of the passing of legendary actor Charlton Heston, that as famous as he was for his conservative politics, he was quite different politically as a younger man. He was a supporter of Adlai Stevenson and JFK, marched in Washington with MLK and was a supporter of civil rights in general (which could also have segued, a bit circuitously, to his gun rights support later) and in general was not what one would think of as conservative as a younger and middle-aged man. In fact, he didn't really become "right wing" until the 1980s, linked up with Ronald Reagan and the NRA in equal measure. But was that truly who Heston was?  While it's not uncommon for people to become more conservative politically as they get older, is that all there is to it?

This is merely conjecture, understand, but I'm curious about Heston's having suffered from Alzheimer's, a disease we now know can take years, even decades to progress to that point of no return. I know it may sound far-fetched, but bear with me for a moment.

It can be a very scary thing, losing one's memory, slowly, and bits of pieces of ones mental faculty, which is so much a part of the horrors, the gradual horror of Alzheimer's disease. Like more and more of us these days, I have some personal connection to people afflicted with Alzheimer's and it's clear that one of the side effects can be paranoia. Some of Heston's behavior in his later years fits into this a bit. Watching him get badgered by Michael Moore at the end of "Bowling for Columbine," an unfortunate choice for Moore marring what was otherwise an important film, was disconcerting to say the least. Of course, there's no way Moore could've known that Heston had Alzheimer's at that point, as it was still being kept a secret from the public. But it was pretty obvious he was dottering and bitter and not fully on top of his faculties, making Moore look more like a bully. Which is too bad because I couldn't disagree more with Heston's stance on guns in America and thought Moore had some crucial points he could've made without trying to go for the being punchline.

(By the way, this is not to say that you can't lean to the left and be paranoid too; I think that goes without saying.)

All this said, it's clear that Heston's politics were more libertarian throughout his life than anything else. In that sense some of his early beliefs don't conflict as much with his later activism as much as it would appear.

At any rate, as I said it's just idle chatter.

And in honor of Heston's passing and his long career as an actor, here's my...

Top Six Charlton Heston Films

1. Touch of Evil (Orson Welles). While it was disconcerting to think of Heston as "Mexican," in a way that adds to this noir's surreal atmosphere (plus it was shot near where I used to live, in Venice Beach, which I know isn't Mexico, either). A sleazy classic.
   
2. The Omega Man. Reworking of "I Am Legend" (one of three official film versions; read my review of the last here) has Heston holding his own when he's essentially on his own. It's an intriguing film with its faults, but it's one of Heston's best roles.
3. Planet of the Apes. "Get your paws off me, you damned dirty ape!" alone makes it one of Heston's best, too, but it's great stuff, and his presence is certainly missed when Mark Wahlberg took on the role for the misguided remake.
4. The Big Country. Underrated Western.
5. Soylent Green. Another near-classic Sci-Fi with many memorable moments and certainly a memorable punchline, as it were.
   
6. Ben Hur. Not generally a fan of the big historical and religious epics, most of which have not aged well in my  estimation, but this one is still huge and hugely entertaining and probably remains Heston's most iconic role ever.

Hot news: Polanski; The Lorax movie? and a Bonanza.

Excerpted from GreenCine:

That project, according to this source, is a film about the first American Couple, George and Martha Washington, focusing when they first meet. It was attached to none other than young pop phenom Miley Cyrus, but is now purportedly to star Juno's Ellen Page, as well as Ryan Philippe and Polanski's French compatriot Gerard Depardieu. A second source at Sony's Screen Gems confirmed this is in the works but declined to specify further. A spokesperson for the State Department said they'll have more about this directly by the end of the day.

THE LORAX

Animators from Blue Sky are hot at work on another animated Dr. Seuss adaptation, scheduled for release in 2010. This one is based on Seuss' environmentally themed classic The Lorax and will reportedly be voiced by Judd Apatow faves Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill, Scarlett Johansson, Miley Cyrus, Ian Holm and possibly (unconfirmed), in his first stint as a cartoon voice, Javier Bardem. It is unconfirmed who will voice the "mossy, bossy" man-like, titular creature but it will likely either be Rogen or Holm.   

African American filmmakers seek a new star (LA Times)

Very worthy, provocative piece in the LA Times today on African American directors and writers struggling to have their films see the light of day, if they aren't a Tyler Perry knockoff or a dumb family comedy.

African American filmmakers seek a new star

Actor Reginald T. Dorsey, who is seeking distributing for "Kings of the Evening," a drama set in the Great Depression that he helped produce and was a hit at the recent Pan African Film Festival, said studios and backers often tell him and other black filmmakers that the financial risks in investing in projects without a high concept or a major star outweigh the benefits and that there is little international interest in small black films. "It's like a slap in the face," he said. "My movie is more than just a black film. It's about where you're from and what you know."
---
"When it comes to Hollywood, there's been all this hemming and hawing," Hartsfield said. "They'll say, 'Oh, we love the script,' but it makes people nervous because it's a black drama. It doesn't fit within the formula; it makes them nervous."
---

"Trying to get black people to go see 'The Great Debaters' was like pulling teeth," said [Charles] Burnett, who is seeking distribution for his latest film, "Namibia: The Struggle for Liberation," about the long battle waged by the African country for independence. "Our own people don't support stories that make a difference, stories that support the independent spirit."

The Official Internet Buzzkill: The Love Guru

After sitting through the coming attraction for Mike Myers new "comedy," The Love Guru* -- not the whole movie, just the coming attraction -- I not only want that minute of my life back but I want to do everything in my meek internet blogger power (I'm being sort of facetious because I don't think any one of us has that kind of power) to start a buzzkilling wave.   

I liked Mike Myers in the Austin Powers films, especially the first one (before it all devolved into gross-out humor and stupidity) and think he's a talented comic. But he's not Peter Sellers, either, and that's exactly who he's apparently trying to channel in this one. Stupid, unfunny, offensive jokes + Jessica Alba do not = hi-larious comedy.   (Why, oh why, does Ms. Alba keep getting cast in comedies? Or in anything? Don't answer that.)

So here it is, the first (probably not, actually) Official Internet Buzzkill Post for The Love Guru: May it die a quick, painful death.

*I refuse to link to the official site to help them any more than I probably already am

David Lynch says hang up.

Citizen McCaw: Documentary coming amidst the struggles of newspapers

I've written about the situation at the Santa Barbara News Press before, and was glad that someone was brave enough to attempt a film about it.  Now that film is done, and will hopefully be distributed everywhere. The world premiere screening is scheduled for March 7 at the beautiful Arlington Theater in Santa Barbara.  More:

Citizen McCaw "chronicles events since July 2006, when editor Jerry Roberts and five of his colleagues quit the Santa Barbara News-Press, citing owner and Co-publisher Wendy McCaw's abandonment of journalistic ethics, which McCaw denied. Since then, McCaw and dozens of her former staffers have been engaged in a fierce clash of wills that raises important national questions of journalistic ethics and media ownership."

Update: The trailer is now up!

In an email the film's director Sam Tyler wrote:

 

we ignored 4 threatening letters and other forms of harassment 
from Wendy McCaw's attorneys

we persuaded a judge to revoke a subpoena for all 80 hours of 
our footage and notes (issued by McCaw attorney Barry Cappello)

the film's content will be defended, if there are any legal 
attacks, by one of America's top trial lawyers San Francisco 
attorney John Keker (Chief Prosecutor, United States v. Oliver 
North, 1989, Iran/Contra Independent Counsel's Office). Keker is 
being joined in defending the film's content, if necessary, by 
Attorney David Greene and The First Amendment Project in Oakland, CA

Our story seems even more relevant today given the potential sale 
of Colorado State University's Rocky Mountain Collegian to Gannett. 
(see The New York Times 2/18/08) The editor and staff of the paper 
are fighting the sale in an action that already has a faint echo of 
the goings on in Santa Barbara. This story, it seems, just won't die.

Add to this reports from LA that the Daily News is in trouble, and the Times ain't doing so great either, and it might seem a depressing day in American journalism. But the release of Citizen McCaw is great news indeed, and maybe, just maybe, the film can actually right that capsized ship after all.

Movie marketing gets Grimm

When the film Hard Candy, with Juno star Ellen Page, came out a year or so ago, it was clear there was a "revenge of Little Red Riding Hood" undercurrent to it that they didn't hide from. So... fine. 

(And in Page's role as Juno, there's a scene where she walks up to her house wearing a red hoodie sweatshirt, which could have been a wry callback to her part in Hard Candy more than anything.)

Anyway, on the heels of Hard Candy, I just got a screener for a film called Christie's Revenge. Here's the DVD box art for it.

 

My, that's an awfully derivative campaign for you - ta HAVE!

(If you're interested, there have certainly been a wealth of films based on or inspired by the Red Riding Hood tale, a few of them even good.)

2008 Oscars: My predictions and hopes.

The annual exercise in futility known as "Predicting the Academy Award winners" 2008 style, begins herewith, with my predictions plus those I'd actually like to see win. And weirdly, in some categories those even jibe for once!

The nominees:

Performance by an actor in a leading role
George Clooney in "Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.)
Daniel Day-Lewis in "There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax)
Johnny Depp in "Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount)
Tommy Lee Jones in "In the Valley of Elah" (Warner Independent)
Viggo Mortensen in "Eastern Promises" (Focus Features)

Who will win:  Daniel Day-Lewis
Who should win: Daniel Day-Lewis.  Don't think this will even be close, but I've been wrong on that before. Mortensen was sublime in "Eastern" and Jones' understated performance, in a much less showy role, in "Elah" was surprisingly moving. Clooney held sway throughout as the titular character. But once again, Day-Lewis is in a league of his own.

Performance by an actress in a leading role
Cate Blanchett in "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" (Universal)
Julie Christie in "Away from Her" (Lionsgate)
Marion Cotillard in "La Vie en Rose" (Picturehouse)
Laura Linney in "The Savages" (Fox Searchlight)
Ellen Page in "Juno" (A Mandate Pictures/Mr. Mudd Production)

Who will win: Julie Christie
Who should win: I'd be thrilled for Christie, but loved Page and Linney too.   (Dark Horse: Most people would say Cotillard would count as a dark horse with a legit shot here, but I wouldn't rule out Page. She gave the performance everyone loved and talked about. Stranger things have happened.)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Casey Affleck in "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" (Warner Bros.)
Javier Bardem in "No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage)
Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Charlie Wilson's War" (Universal)
Hal Holbrook in "Into the Wild" (Paramount Vantage and River Road Entertainment)
Tom Wilkinson in "Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.)

Who will win:  Bardem.
Who should win: Bardem.  Affleck did nice work, too, and Holbrook shined in a small part. Wilkinson was terrific. Hoffman is always super. But, really, which performance will you never ever forget? 

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

Cate Blanchett in "I'm Not There" (The Weinstein Company)
Ruby Dee in "American Gangster" (Universal)
Saoirse Ronan in "Atonement" (Focus Features)
Amy Ryan in "Gone Baby Gone" (Miramax)
Tilda Swinton in "Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.)

Who will win: Tilda Swinton
Who should win: can't argue against Swinton here, though I though Ronan's was one of the better performances seen by a young actress in a long while, and Ryan is always underrated. Blanchett is brave and wonderful, but has already won recently. Dee always leaves an impression but really only had one scene to shine.

Best animated feature film of the year
"Persepolis" (Sony Pictures Classics): Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud
"Ratatouille" (Walt Disney): Brad Bird
"Surf's Up" (Sony Pictures Releasing): Ash Brannon and Chris Buck

Who will win: Ratatouille, in another win for Pixar
Who should win: Ratatouille or Persepolis. They could not be more different in style, but both superbly succeed at what they set out to do, beautifully.

Achievement in art direction
"American Gangster" (Universal): Art Direction: Arthur Max; Set Decoration: Beth A. Rubino
"Atonement" (Focus Features): Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
"The Golden Compass" (New Line in association with Ingenious Film Partners): Art Direction: Dennis Gassner; Set Decoration:    Anna Pinnock
"Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount): Art Direction: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax): Art Direction: Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Jim Erickson

Who will win: Sweeney Todd
Who should win: There Will Be Blood. The former is more showy for art direction, but Fisk and Erickson's work on the latter should not be overlooked.  All that said, Atonement might beat out Sweeney Todd.

Achievement in cinematography
"The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" (Warner Bros.): Roger Deakins
"Atonement" (Focus Features): Seamus McGarvey
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" (Miramax/Pathé Renn): Janusz Kaminski
"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage): Roger Deakins
"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax): Robert Elswit

Who will win:  No Country for Old Men
Who should win: Assassination of Jesse James.  Hey, either way, Deakins wins.  Can't argue against the DP work for any of these nominees, really. All superb.

Achievement in costume design
"Across the Universe" (Sony Pictures Releasing)    Albert Wolsky
"Atonement" (Focus Features)    Jacqueline Durran
"Elizabeth: The Golden Age" (Universal)    Alexandra Byrne
"La Vie en Rose" (Picturehouse)    Marit Allen
"Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount) Colleen Atwood

Who will win:  Atonement
Who should win: Sweeney Todd

Best documentary feature
"No End in Sight" (Magnolia Pictures) A Representational Pictures Production: Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
"Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience" (The Documentary Group) A Documentary Group Production: Richard E. Robbins
"Sicko" (Lionsgate and The Weinstein Company) A Dog Eat Dog Films Production: Michael Moore and Meghan O'Hara
"Taxi to the Dark Side" (THINKFilm) An X-Ray Production: Alex Gibney and Eva Orner
"War/Dance" (THINKFilm) A Shine Global and Fine Films Production: Andrea Nix Fine and Sean Fine

Who will win:  This category is often unpredictable, too, but I don't see Moore winning this one again. I'd bet on No End in Sight or War/Dance if I had to bet.
Who should win: Taxi to the Dark Side 

Where the heck is:  King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (probably didn't compute for more traditional Oscar voters).

Best documentary short subject
"Freeheld" A Lieutenant Films Production: Cynthia Wade and Vanessa Roth
"La Corona (The Crown)" A Runaway Films and Vega Films Production: Amanda Micheli and Isabel Vega
"Salim Baba" A Ropa Vieja Films and Paradox Smoke Production: Tim Sternberg and Francisco Bello
"Sari's Mother" (Cinema Guild) A Daylight Factory Production: James Longley

Who will win: Beats me, but I'll guess Longley's "Sari's Mother."
Who should win:  Freeheld sounds emotionally devestating, Salim Baba perhaps the most fascinating. 

Achievement in film editing
"The Bourne Ultimatum" (Universal): Christopher Rouse
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" (Miramax/Pathé Renn): Juliette Welfling
"Into the Wild" (Paramount Vantage and River Road Entertainment): Jay Cassidy
"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage) Roderick Jaynes
"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax): Dylan Tichenor

Who will win:  No Country for Old Men.
Who should win: No Country for Old Men.  Not always an easy category to pick, and you could argue for any of these films (including the film I thought got most overlooked at the Oscars, Into the Wild.) But Jaynes' work (with the Coens) was supreme.

Best foreign language film of the year
"Beaufort" Israel
"The Counterfeiters" Austria
"Katyn" Poland
"Mongol" Kazakhstan
"12" Russia

Who will win: This is just a complete guess, but I'm going to pick Katyn based on the Academy's love of WWII stories and Andrzej Wajda's storied history. He's already been given an honorary nomination to make up for previous skips, but that wouldn't eliminate him from getting a real one now. Or, given the Academy's love of WWII stories, The Counterfeiters sounds up the typical foreign film voter's alley.
Who Should win: Having not seen any of these films it's hard for me to say, and this category is often the most surprising (and/or ludicrous), but "12" sounds the most interesting to me.

Achievement in makeup
"La Vie en Rose" (Picturehouse)    Didier Lavergne and Jan Archibald
"Norbit" (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount): Rick Baker and Kazuhiro Tsuji
"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" (Walt Disney): Ve Neill and Martin Samuel

Who will win/Who Should win:  La Vie en Rose, just because the other two are among the worst films to get nominations in recent years. But I do love Rick Baker's work through his career, so I wouldn't feel awful if he won. On the other hand, it's Norbit!  Must be a slow year for movie makeup.

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
"Atonement" (Focus Features) Dario Marianelli
"The Kite Runner" (DreamWorks, Sidney Kimmel Entertainment and Participant Productions, Distributed by Paramount Classics): Alberto Iglesias
"Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.) James Newton Howard
"Ratatouille" (Walt Disney)    Michael Giacchino
"3:10 to Yuma" (Lionsgate) Marco Beltrami

Who will win: I'll probably be wrong but of the nominees I really like Beltrami's twangy score (with some occasional nods to Leone) the best, even though...
Who Should win: Johnny Greenwood for "There Will Be Blood" - and he wasn't even nominated!

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
"Falling Slowly" from "Once" (Fox Searchlight) Music and Lyric by Glen Hansard and: Marketa Irglova
"Happy Working Song" from "Enchanted" (Walt Disney): Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Stephen Schwartz
"Raise It Up" from "August Rush" (Warner Bros.): Music and Lyric by Jamal Joseph, Charles Mack and Tevin Thomas
"So Close" from "Enchanted" (Walt Disney): Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Stephen Schwartz
"That's How You Know" from "Enchanted" (Walt Disney): Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Stephen Schwartz

Who will win:  with three of the noms, likely a song from Enchanted, unless they all cancel each other out.
Who Should win:  "Falling Slowly" from Once, a lovely song from a lovely film.

Best animated short film
"I Met the Walrus" A Kids & Explosions Production: Josh Raskin
"Madame Tutli-Putli" (National Film Board of Canada) A National Film Board of Canada Production    Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski
"Même les Pigeons Vont au Paradis (Even Pigeons Go to Heaven)" (Premium Films) A BUF Compagnie Production Samuel Tourneux and Simon Vanesse
"My Love (Moya Lyubov)" (Channel One Russia) A Dago-Film Studio, Channel One Russia and Dentsu Tec Production Alexander Petrov
"Peter & the Wolf" (BreakThru Films) A BreakThru Films/Se-ma-for Studios Production    Suzie Templeton and Hugh Welchman

Who will win/Who Should win: Beats the heck out of me. Haven't seen any of them. But I'll go with the National Film Board's short because they never lead me astray.

Best live action short film
"At Night" A Zentropa Entertainments 10 Production: Christian E. Christiansen and Louise Vesth
"Il Supplente (The Substitute)" (Sky Cinema Italia) A Frame by Frame Italia Production: Andrea Jublin
"Le Mozart des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets)" (Premium Films) A Karé Production: Philippe Pollet-Villard
"Tanghi Argentini" (Premium Films) An Another Dimension of an Idea Production: Guido Thys and Anja Daelemans
"The Tonto Woman" A Knucklehead, Little Mo and Rose Hackney Barber Production: Daniel Barber and Matthew Brown

Who will win/Who Should win: A wild stab at this one, "Le Mozart des Pickpockets" unless they're feeling in a Dogme sort of mood, in which case: "At Night"

Achievement in sound editing
"The Bourne Ultimatum" (Universal): Karen Baker Landers and Per Hallberg
"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage): Skip Lievsay
"Ratatouille" (Walt Disney): Randy Thom and Michael Silvers
"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax): Christopher Scarabosio and Matthew Wood
"Transformers" (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro): Ethan Van der Ryn and Mike Hopkins

Who will win:  No Country for Old Men, if it's sweeping. Tough call.
Who Should win:  No Country or There Will Be Blood. Or heck, Ratatouille. There, how's that for decisiveness!

Achievement in sound mixing
"The Bourne Ultimatum" (Universal)    Scott Millan, David Parker and Kirk Francis
"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage): Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter Kurland
"Ratatouille" (Walt Disney): Randy Thom, Michael Semanick and Doc Kane
"3:10 to Yuma" (Lionsgate): Paul Massey, David Giammarco and Jim Stuebe
"Transformers" (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro): Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell and Peter J. Devlin

Who will win:  No Country or Bourne.
Who Should win:  3:10 to Yuma.

Achievement in visual effects
"The Golden Compass" (New Line in association with Ingenious Film Partners): Michael Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris and Trevor Wood
"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" (Walt Disney): John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson and John Frazier
"Transformers" (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro): Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Russell Earl and John Frazier

Who will win: Transformers.
Who Should win: Golden Compass.

Adapted screenplay
"Atonement" (Focus Features), Screenplay by Christopher Hampton
"Away from Her" (Lionsgate), Written by Sarah Polley
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" (Miramax/Pathé Renn), Screenplay by Ronald Harwood
"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage), Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax), Written for the screen by Paul Thomas Anderson

Who will win:  Coen Bros
Who should win: This is an incredibly deep category this year, it'd be hard to argue against any of the films winning it.   If I had to pick someone other than the Coens, I'd actually take Sarah Polley for Away From Her. A perfect adaptation of the Munro short story.  Certainly hard to dismiss Anderson's loose, creative adaptation of "Oil!" either, but as a script it stumbles a couple of times.

Original screenplay
"Juno" (A Mandate Pictures/Mr. Mudd Production), Written by Diablo Cody
"Lars and the Real Girl" (MGM), Written by Nancy Oliver
"Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.), Written by Tony Gilroy
"Ratatouille" (Walt Disney), Screenplay by Brad Bird; Story by Jan Pinkava, Jim Capobianco, Brad Bird
"The Savages" (Fox Searchlight), Written by Tamara Jenkins

Who will win: Juno/Cody (I'm just guessing, since there's more buzz about it than any of the others)

Who should win: Michael Clayton/Gilroy or The Savages/Jenkins

Achievement in directing
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" (Miramax/Pathé Renn), Julian Schnabel
"Juno" (A Mandate Pictures/Mr. Mudd Production), Jason Reitman
"Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.), Tony Gilroy
"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage), Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax), Paul Thomas Anderson

Who will win: Coen Brothers
Who should win: Coen Brothers

This one seems a no-brainer to me, not to dismiss the others, certainly not the bravura work that Anderson did in his shattering film, but if the Coens don't win this I might need to, well, jump into the wood chipper.

Best motion picture of the year
"Atonement" (Focus Features) A Working Title Production: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Paul Webster, Producers
"Juno" (A Mandate Pictures/Mr. Mudd Production) A Mandate Pictures/Mr. Mudd Production: Lianne Halfon, Mason Novick and Russell Smith, Producers
"Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.) A Clayton Productions, LLC Production: Sydney Pollack, Jennifer Fox and Kerry Orent, Producers
"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage) A Scott Rudin/Mike Zoss Production: Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers
"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax) A JoAnne Sellar/Ghoulardi Film Company Production: JoAnne Sellar, Paul Thomas Anderson and Daniel Lupi, Producers

Who will win: No Country for Old Men.  BUT as a dark horse: (Just because it's a bit safer for stodgier or squeamish Academy voters) Atonement.
Who should win: No Country for Old Men.

Overall the nomination process ended up with a pretty accurate list of nominees, give or take, but again, I thought Into the Wild deserved more respect. Also overlooked: Eastern Promises, Zodiac, Rescue Dawn (no supporting actor nom for poor Steve Zahn probably upset him so much he went fleeing back to dreck like Strange Wilderness), and as mentioned in this space (and many others) the lack of a nomination for  Four Months, 3 Weeks, Two Days... for Best Foreign film was certainly an oversight. Ah well.

What do you think? 

Confusions of an Unmarried Couple review

Confusions of an Unmarried Couple

This half faux documentary (not quite mockumentary) half relationship dramedy by Canadian filmmaker brothers Brett and Jason Butler is nicely written, which is good considering it is also incredibly talky. Confusions of an Unmarried Couple is basically like a highly personal, rawly truthful play with elements of a Canadian dogme 95 film (if a bit less pretentious than that sounds). 

Co-director Brett Butler plays a sort of a hippie slacker named Dan who suffers in the malaise that follows a depressing breakup. The film then centers around Dan's confrontation with his ex,  a wannabe folksinger who made her own mistakes in their relationship (both of them flitted around with other people, she with women, which bothers the hell out of him; he drinks too much; etc). He wants to return to her apartment to pick up his things - she slams the door in his face; this along with his first bitter confessions to the camera make you realize quickly that they've gone through a less than-amicable split.  What follows is the anatomy of that breakup as they both attempt to grapple with its aftermath.

It gently satirizes self-absorbtion, self-confessional documentaries and reality shows, though I would've liked it to push that angle further.  Full of funny, random and ribald lines like "why can't you love my penis the way i love pretty in pink" (he says talking to a picture of his estranged  girlfriend) and "i don't even feel like jerking off any more; every time i jerk off i end up crying". 

Given the obviously low budget, it's nicely shot on digital video, though it could use a bit more variety in shot selection and movement;  mixed in are the taped confessions (or confusions) purposely shot on less appealing video.

I did find hard to really believe this couple meant anything more to each other than chemical attraction - and to its credit, that's part of what the couple debate in the film, that they're possibly not meant to be more than that -- but it's hard to get in to deep with two characters when you don't get a sense of depth. Thus even at 74 minutes, it veers on wearing out its welcome too early.  What's admirable is that, even though it's shot more from the male POV, Butler doesn't hesitate to show his characters own inadequacies and obnoxiousness, so the relationship's failings aren't all put on her.

A particularly raunchy exchange (both of them talking about it separately) about a possible sex threesome seems forced, as if the raunchiness were calculated to either make an audience laugh or push its buttons, but for me it just fell flat.

Of course, if it is a documentary, with the immediate voyeuristic camera present at every moment, mixed with their taped confessionals, then scenes where there are voice-overs for either character don't really fit.  But perhaps that's being nitpicky, and there's an amusing scene (with VO) where Dan tries to masturbate in her bathroom, just to see if he can still get it up. He seems "afraid" he may be gay, just as he's afraid that she may be.

While you may find yourself wishing for a bigger budget (but not too much bigger) and a more renowned cast, the performers here are adequate. Butler comes off as more real than does Johnson (paging Ellen Page!), but she's appealing enough. And large scale is not really a requirement for a movie that clamors for lo-fi  and tries to come off as documentary-real. They, and the film, are credible.

So despite its imperfections, overall the film is heartfelt and personal, and relatable, enough, and full of knowing humor, to recommend for those looking for a smart ultra-indie movie about relationships, which is more than you can expect from PS I Love You at roughly 20 million dollars less.

**1/2 out of 5.

Roy Scheider, may he finally get that "bigger boat."

Roy Scheider passed away just days after I'd rewatched part of Jaws for what must be the thirtieth time, and I agree with Cinematical - knowing that he's in that one film alone means he'll be appreciated by generations to come should be some comfort to his family and to his fans now. Scheider was unfortunately in a lot of mediocre, forgettable fare in the final years of his career, but besides Jaws and an array of great work he didn in the 1970s, don't overlook his work in Naked Lunch (as Doctor Benway) and in the cable TV movie Somebody Has to Shoot the Picture. But perhaps most underrated is Scheider in The Seven-Ups, which has one of the all-time great chase scenes, edited by Jerry Greenberg who won Oscars for his work on Bullitt and The French Connection. An unheralded entry in the 70s Tough Guy NYC Cop genre.

But for Jaws, French Connection, All That Jazz, Marathon Man and Sorcerer (a more than passable remake of the brilliant Georges Cluzout masterpiece Wages of Fear) - and hopefully, too, The Seven-Ups, for those films alone, Scheider will be remembered always.

Quick Thoughts on: Cloverfield

Cloverfield is a terrifically effective monster film that undeniably borrows some of its plotting from previous monster films (as well as reminding in some ways of The Host, which was a better film, though this one made me jump more), and as others have said owes something not only to Blair Witch Project but even more so to Cannibal Holocaust (1980 film shot from POV of "found footage" from disappeared documentary filmmakers). But the scares are plentiful and the atmosphere undeniably immediate and tense as all get out.

The characterizations could have used a bit more shading to them - a few of the main characters felt a little by the numbers, and the central romantic relationship just makes you want to see those two die. The cameraman, whom we rarely see on screen of course (after he picks up the camera at the party in Act I) is irritating at first but I grew to like him, and Marlena, the other woman they stick with, is more spunky, is a more developed character. (Lizzy Caplan, the likable actress who plays her, was in Freaks and Geeks and Mean Girls.) The party sequence seems about five minutes too long, though I guess it's crucial to setting up the characters. The filmmakers rightly hold off on showing us the monster until quite a bit into it, and when it comes (no it's not a Giant Lion like Voltron) I thought it appropriately terrifying. And Matt Reeves and his DPs do well in making the amateur footage not too nauseatingly shaky but also not too professional either.

Overall, the film has its derivative aspects and some flat characters, but as a Giant Monster on the Rampage movie it works well.

Overheard from a guy sitting behind me, as the lights went up (he was verbally scared most of the way through): "That was the most action-packed stupid movie I've ever seen."

On the Foreign Film Oscar Nominees and the Process.

Before you go jumping to conclusions and getting angry - as I seem to do just about every single year - when it comes to the list of five finalists for this year's Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, Ronald Bergen knows more about the process behind it then just about anyone. Read his piece on GreenCine Daily. Like many people, I was a bit flabbergasted for the exclusion of the Romanian film 4 Months, Three Weeks, Two Days - That said, I've been surprised and irritated about this list in the past, partially because I, like most people, haven't heard of many of them, only to later come to discover that there are some fine films in the batch. So perhaps of these five, there will be some hidden gems that deserve the accolades. For now, I still think a certain amount of head scratching is in order, but as Bergen points out, you can also aim much of the blame at the countries themselves, for often submitting weaker, but safer, films over those that clearly have artistic merit.

Ronald Bergen on the 2008 Foreign Film Oscar Nominees >>

On the creative artist and the flickering flame extinguished too early.

Even after the report comes back in, we may never know exactly what happened with Heath Ledger. The Rashomon-like interpretations and misinterpretations are already blurring and blending together into another legend of a star flamed out too early (and billions of words have already been written about others who went the same way, the actors, the actresses, the rock stars). It was booze, it was drugs, it was love gone wrong, it was pressure, it was depression. It could have been all those things with Ledger. It could have been an accident. He couldn't sleep - many of us can relate to that. It could have been a mistake. It could have been that he fell down a very deep, dark hole and couldn't climb back out again. It could have been all these things.

But when these events occur, to any of us who are artists it stimulates feelings that go beyond this one person's life and death. There's something an artist must be in order to create - and I consider actors to be artists, the good ones create something special out of nothing - and that is to go down into those very dark places. Those of us who go there to create - to write a book or film, to paint, to make - usually have the ability to pull ourselves out of there again, and again, as if on cue. The fear and the danger of ultimately not being able to escape is what either drives people away from there or keeps them returning again and again. "I am in that temper that if I were under water I would scarcely kick to come to the top," wrote Keats, presumably in one particularly dark and stormy mood swing.

---

"I don't believe in happiness: why should we expect to be happy? In such a world as this, depression is rational, rage reasonable." - Fay Weldon

Or, as Jack Beal said, "Keep painting your demons."

Highlights from Podcasts, a Series: The Great Debaters

I'll be highlighting in this space some choice moments recently heard in film-related interviews, particularly useful to screenwriters and filmmakers.

On KCRW's The Treatment [podcasts]: Denzel Washington in a roundly entertaining interview with Elvis Mitchell about Washington's film The Great Debaters, and the process of working with the script:

DW: [I asked] how can I make it a better script. We went through a lot of changes. There was no Willie Lynch letter scene (for instance) at all. We rewrote that. Just, massaging it, massaging. It was a four year process. We brought in [veteran screenwriter] Horton Foote at one point. He really developed and refined the sharecropper-slash-sheriff character, and I liked that, and I wanted to use that, I kept it because it gave us a bit of a ticking clock. This guy was after him and he didn't know it. ...
EM: Building these things are like entertainment elements into a story that could be hard to deal with otherwise, it's tough material.
DW: I still thought it was about - wow, this what they overcame.
EM: So those elements are still there.
DW: Some of them. Even more. Some of the racist stuff? There was even more. I cut half of that out. Because I didn't want it to be "Oh and then this racist thing happens. And then they walk up the block and then that racist thing happens." I said to somebody once,"I've been called a 'nigger' more in movies than I've been called in my whole life. " I'm like, man! I wouldn't go out of the house if it was this bad. [Elvis laughs.] So I didn't want to just use that as a dramatic device. Oh we need some drama, get the evil racist in here. Even in the case of the first scene, where he runs into the pig farmers, it was about class. When the guy says, "I'll endorse this over to you," the farmer was like, "Huh?" He didn't know what he was talking about. He felt inferior so he's got to come back. So to me it was as much about class and culture as it was about race.

This interview was useful to me in examining the way to make a film based on real events in black history - as I grapple with some of the same issues on my own script - and finding the heart of a story.

How is Uwe Boll Still Making Movies?

Great piece by Darrell Hartman answers the question many of us have been asking for awhile:

How is "The World's Worst Director" Still Making Movies?

(excerpt:) Now, you'd think Boll would be washing dishes for a living by now. That's the funny part -- he's doing better than ever, with two, maybe even three films coming out in 2008. The first definite, which hits theaters Friday, is his most ambitious work to date: a fantasy with a (cough) passing resemblance to Lord of the Rings called In the Name of the King: A Dragon Siege Tale. It stars Jason Statham (and -- wait for it -- Burt Reynolds) and clocks in at two hours-plus. (Boll has promised the director's cut "will be much longer.") The second, Postal, is an intentionally offensive comedy about 9/11 and the war on terror. Boll didn't manage to get anyone famous for that one.   

There Will Be Blood: Oil, oil, trouble and toil.

Random thoughts as I try to get a grip on this one...

About halfway through There Will Be Blood a light bulb went on over my head - ah hah, like an opera. This is an opera. From that point on, whatever craziness was laid upon me by the inspired and deranged head (just like his main character) of PT Anderson just slid on by with mild amusement and appreciation. That way, things clicked. Daniel Day Lewis is tremendous here, as always, he makes every scene his own, but he also goes over the top in primal fashion; such as a scene where he's forced to be baptized, which he turns into a comic moment, where it could have been played quieter, more pathetically. But again, this fits with the operatic style here.  Even the much-talked about bizarro third act works - well, almost works - when looked at this way. There's a grand guignol-ishness at play. Forget Sweeney Todd: There Will Be Blood is the dark comedy horror opera people need to see.

And in addition to being operatic, it plays with sound and silence so much (with Daniel Plainview's adopted son losing his hearing in an oil derrick accident the centerpiece of that and the driving event that causes everything that teeters off afterwards) that it's also hard not to think of parts of it as a silent film - the expressive acting, and faces, gesturing reminded me of early films (films that would have been made in the era in which the film is set). The first twenty minutes or so are particularly brilliant in that sense, all wordless, the events that lead to Plainview's success as an oil man. I want to see the film again just to see that sequence again.  And at times it works best as a black comedy, too.  But Anderson does w