Movie Girl

With Apologies to the Staff of Vogue Magazine

2011-01-26T07:12:00.000-08:00

Documentaries can be amazing...wait, have I lost you already? Well, if you're still reading, I've recently seen three very different docs: The September Issue, No Impact Man, and The Rape of Europa. They look at: fashion, going green, and...Nazis. Because you can't write about documentaries without Nazis coming into picture somewhere.

Fashion has always been fascinating to me. Flipping through Seventeen, Cosmopolitan, and Vogue was riveting, if a little baffling. Wait, ladies wear that stuff? Plastic-looking pants with a chartreuse monkey-fur jacket? Yes, I can read that it's designed by some stylish Italian guy, but...actually, fashion actually has very little to do with clothes. I learned this from The September Issue, a documentary that follows the editorial process of Vogue's September issue, the issue that debuts what's new for the year in fashion. Vogue's September issue is purchased by an extraordinarily high number of women every year, and the advertising is so lucrative that the September issue is nearly the size of a phone book. But the great part of this is seeing Anna Wintour up close. Is she really as dreadful as the rumors say? She's not. She seemed fine to me. She's the editor and she wants it done her way. So there.

I was struck by how dowdy and inelegant the women who work at Vogue are. Anna Wintour is the exception. She is always glamorously put together in a dress. She wears surprisingly pretty floral dresses in nearly every scene she's in. But the other ladies who work at Vogue wear uniforms of shapeless, all-black sacks, or all-white pantsuits, with no variation. And the numerous closeups did them no favors. Look, we all get saggy and wrinkly. But we're normal people. We don't live in the posh, ultra-expensive world of celebrity fashion, the exclusive locales of Manhattan, Paris, and L.A. Aren't there luxurious treatments for the typical wrinkles in that world? And if you have worked at Vogue for the last quarter century, can't you afford them? Sorry! Sorry so snarky! Which brings us to the next doc, No Impact Man.

No Impact Man is a writer in Manhattan who decided that he, his wife, and daughter would live a year on the planet and leave no impact. They slowly phase out the extras of western civilization, like cable TV, grocery sacks, electricity, and toilet paper. So, as you can see, this guy is kind of nuts. Toilet paper? Who knew we Americans had so little to be thankful for? Does this guy really not know how paper companies work? Paper companies plant way more trees than they cut down for paper. They have to - they want to make paper in five years, too. But I'm getting off track. No Impact Man is interesting in that you get to see this marriage close up, where the husband is committed to this idea, and he has to drag his wife kicking and screaming into the plan. He makes her give up TV, coffee, takeout food, ice, and eventually her cosmetics. See? He really is crazy.

What was fascinating in this documentary were the dynamics of this couple, especially when you see the conversations they have about whether or not to have another baby. She considers that since she is supporting him in his no impact project, which he wants to do more than anything, he should support her in her dream to have a baby, which she want to do more than anything, too. Now, she works in some high paying corporate job, and he's at home with their toddler daughter. And he kind of asks her if she's going to cut back on her job to take care of the kids. She doesn't know what that has to do with having another baby. But you could see what he wanted to say: look, honey, I wanted to be a writer, didn't want to start a family. So why don't you take a turn at home if we have another baby? If he ever said that out loud, it wasn't in front of the camera. But how could she quit her job? To buy only locally grown, organic fruits and veggies, overpriced organic bakery bread, and organic household cleaners, you need a high paying corporate job.

I feel so much sympathy for this guy's wife. Actually, I have compassion for him, too. Look, he had an idea, granted it was crazy, but he wanted to do it, and he succeeded. This couple took a lot of absurd hating on their blog. Of all the crazies to hate in New York, why pick on them? They're mostly normal. Well, at least she is. Even though I prefer reusable, cloth grocery bags, this guy makes going green...wait, for it...going crazy! Too much? Well, now we come to the primary reason documentaries were invented: Nazis.

The Rape of Europa is an account of Hitler's plan to steal any good art created in the last 900 years, and destroy anything he didn't like. Of course, being Hitler, this was also a way to stick it to the Jews. Because many of the very best art collections were owned by Jewish families. Of all the documentaries to see, this one is it. Yes, again we see how thoroughly fiendish the Nazis were in their long-sighted planning to meet their goals. And again we see the heartbreak they wrought on the world. But we also get to meet the heroes: American art experts and artists who did whatever they could to restore and protect the treasures of Western art and architecture. The Monument Men, a US Army unit, are the ones who made sure that the world's greatest paintings and sculptures were returned to the families they were stolen from, and saved these treasures for all of us here in the future. If you like docs, watch this one.

The Runaways

2011-01-19T07:51:00.001-08:00

Wow, sorry so late! But I keep thinking about a movie I saw, The Runaways, the story of Joan Jett and her first band. Usually, the lifestyle of success and stardom is sunny. Usually, success and stardom don't chew young girls up and spit them out. But that's the great thing about this movie: when a young girl, with no real parental supervision, is seduced by success, you don't get a false picture of how, yeah, it was tough. But our young star pulled through, and she's still a success and a star. In this movie, what really happened to Cherie, the lead singer of The Runaways, was that she was nearly destroyed by rock'n roll.

Young Cherie Currie, portrayed by Dakota Fanning, grew up in California, with a mom who left with her second husband to live in Singapore and a dad who is slowly dying of alcoholism. Her twin sister is the closest thing to a parent she has. So what happens in 1975 to girls like that? Hanging around clubs, she meets Joan Jett and Runaways drummer, Sandy West. Jett and West think their all-girl hard-rock band needs a blond lead singer. So they audition Cherie. After a rough start with sleazy music promoter Kim Fowley, they get a recording contract. When their album becomes a hit in Japan, the Runaways travel there for a tour. But rather than success being a joy, for Cherie, it's exhausting, riddled with drug-induced collapses, and jealousy from the other band members because of the attention she's getting as the blond lead singer. How could she have coped with it all? She was 15.

Joan Jett, however, seems not to have parents at all. From what you see in the film, she's squatting in a cheap apartment with lots of other druggie teens. But while they get high and sleep, she's busy playing her guitar, writing songs, and trying to make it. And she does. Her sheer ambition and passion for the music do achieve some success. She had a few hits in the early 1980's. Kristen Stewart, the heroine from the Twilight series, plays Joan Jett. She's got Jett's slouchy posture and smoldering anger down. But I had never realized that Jett was a lesbian. I asked a pal about this and he said,"Yeah, everybody knows that." And in this movie, the experimentation between Cherie and Joan seems kind of sweet. When everyone else is out to use them, they're all they've got. Cherie's sad goodbye to Joan, as Joan Jett & the Blackhearts are taking off, takes place during a radio interview while Cherie is scolded for making a personal call from her workplace, a bakery.

While it was hard to watch what life did to Cherie Currie, at least this movie portrayed the truth about The Runaways, the first all-girl rock'n roll band. The casting was great, the photography captured the 1970's mood, and the end seemed inevitable. The loss of innocence and hope for Cherie is as bittersweet as her goodbye to Joan.

The Maiden Heist

2010-06-27T19:16:00.000-07:00

The Maiden Heist is not your typical museum heist movie. There's no stud-leading man, no starlet barely managing to cover her attributes, and no villainous security guy trying to shut the whole thing down. The attraction in this film isn't clever computer hacking or out-of-control action scenes, but rather superb acting and a charming, quirky script.

The heroes are the security guards, who are also the thieves. Played by Christopher Walken, Morgan Freeman, and William H. Macy, these museum guards are normal workaday guys. But each one is passionately, wildly in love - with a work of art. For Walken, it's the Lonely Maiden, a haunting portrait from 19th century France, and for Freeman, it's a Vermeer-like painting entitled Girl with Cats. For Macy, it's an early Greek bronze of a naked warrior, an ideal representation of the male form. When they discover that their artworks have been sold to a Danish museum, they plan to steal the three masterpieces.

While there could be a sense of the ridiculous in the men of a certain age seen here, their loyal dedication to their art doesn't lend itself to ridicule. Walken gives a subtle portrayal of Roger, a very serious museum guard, who fantasizes about how he would sacrifice himself for the girl he loves, the Maiden. His acting here is so unaffected, so normal, it makes me wonder if he's done any other movies like this. Can I get them on Netflix? His wife, played by Marcia Gay Harden, doesn't know his devotion to his job is wrapped up in the Maiden. Harden is wonderfully true to life, and put together to seem much older than she must be. Morgan Freeman plays a rather fussy artist, who ceaselessly copies his Girl with Cats. With his frank admission of fear and his "oh, dears," Freeman comes across as the middle aged bachelor who lives down the hall (with his 15 cats). It's funny and sweet. Macy plays an ex-marine, enthralled by military valor and adventure. His man-crush on the Warrior is more about the masculine virtues than homoeroticism. Macy has some of the best lines, and he plays them well.

The world tends to dismiss men like this, real guys working regular jobs. But what all of us identify with is how passionate love can fill you with purpose, with life. Don't miss the Lonely Maiden and Christopher Walken, whose love of art leads to real love.

Best of 2009

2010-03-07T14:18:00.000-08:00

With the Oscars on tonight, everyone's excited about last year's movies. Let's look back at three of the year's films. Two were hits, and one was entirely under the radar: Duplicity, Monsters Vs. Aliens, and Easy Virtue.

Duplicity was one of my favorites this year. Sexy Clive Owen and Julia Roberts have great chemistry, but Paul Giamatti nearly steals the show. Read it here: http://moviegirl70.blogspot.com/search/label/Duplicity

Monsters Vs. Aliens, Dreamworks entry for children's animation last summer, is fun. With Dreamworks, you always have a certain amount of Shrek-style humor. Monsters, however, has the charm of real, old fashioned movie monsters. No cute Disney creatures or princesses allowed (what a relief!) in this kid's movie. Rather we have the Creature from the Black Lagoon, the 50 Foot Woman, a Godzilla-radiated caterpillar, and a mad scientist morphed into a cockroach (rather than a fly). As in all kid's movies, these unlikely pals form a team. With a little wacky Area 51 conspiracy thrown in, this film is entertaining for parents as well as their kids. You'll get a kick out of the outer space villain and his alien clones, brought to wicked life by the voice of Dwight Schrute (Rainn Philips) from The Office.

Easy Virtue, based on a Noel Coward play, got very little notice. That's such a shame, because this film has such glitzy, 1920's style. Starring Jessica Biel, Colin Firth, and Kristen Scott Thomas, this comedy is in turns smooth and sparkly. Biel plays a modern American woman, a race car driver, who marries into typically stuffy English gentry. The music, the cinematography, the dialogue are so well done. The casting was off in one respect: Biel's cool, blonde glamour is attractive to Ben Barnes, who plays her husband in the film. These two have no chemistry on screen. Barnes appears to be about 17. Thank heaven for Colin Firth! While this film drags a bit, it makes it's way to a great conclusion.

While there are no Oscar winners on my list, you won't be disappointed. Whether you're looking for a period charmer, a fun date movie, or a film to enjoy with the kids, one of these will be great.

Sherlock Holmes in 2010

2010-01-13T15:13:00.000-08:00

The new Sherlock Holmes is a multi-faceted film: a traditional Holmesian mystery with blockbuster action and buddy-movie characters. Well cast with Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes and Jude Law as Dr. Watson, director Guy Ritchie created a very ambitious movie. Did he succeed?

In one of his few mainstream films, Ritchie developed a mystery true to Arthur Conan Doyle's style. The story is dark and tricky with a very Victorian London in the background. Holmes is, of course, fiendishly clever, but the villian is rather typically evil. Mark Strong's Lord Blackdeath (or some name similar) with his unrelieved scowling seems predictable. The almost sepia tone of the photography is also tiresome, but it's effect is gorgeous in some scenes. Thankfully, the mystery draws you in. Is Lord Blackdeath supernaturally powerful? Downey's Holmes knows the answer the whole time, and the revelation is suspenseful.

Having only a passing knowledge of Holmes' mysteries, I suspect they rarely had numerous explosions and fistfights. I may be wrong. However, for a movie to succeed now, that kind of excitement is necessary. If Ritchie had made a smart mystery without all the macho action, it would have opened to far less acclaim. And isn't edgy action Ritchie's specialty? Without the chases and well-choreographed fights, this movie would have ended up a Gosford Park-style film. While Gosford Park is excellent, it wasn't a high-octane thriller. The gritty action sequences take Holmes to a new level, and will bring the famous detective to a different generation of movie fans.

The relationship between Holmes and Watson is intriguing. They bicker, Holmes borrows Watson's clothes, and then tries to break up his romance. Are they brothers, sisters, or an old married couple? Holmes' love interest in the film, played by Rachel McAdams, is obviously besotted with him. Why does he evade her embrace? Is he afraid of being hurt by her again? Or is he secretly gay? I don't think so. But the ambiguous relationship adds depth to the film. It's not your typical buddy movie, but fits into that category, too.

So in this version of Sherlock Holmes, there's blockbuster action for brainless fun, a mystery to unravel, and two cute actors to watch. What else does a girl want?

Christmas On Film

2009-11-22T17:50:00.001-08:00

Holiday movies are a cultural tradition in America. This is one of the rare film genres the viewer can rely on. Christmas movies are nearly always rather innocent with happy endings. The Hollywood trend of removing Baby Jesus started long ago. Remember Holiday Inn, The Miracle on 34th Street, and White Christmas? But all of these show rediscovered hope and wonder in humanity's goodness. It's A Wonderful Life never mentions Jesus Christ either, but it's theme of sacrifice hearkens to why Christ was born in the first place. More recent holiday films, like Home Alone and A Christmas Story, while light comedies, celebrate the love within families along with the challenges of those bonds. While there are so many favorites for Christmas, new holiday movies come out every year. I've found a few new ones, one classic and another released just last year.

I'll Be Seeing You stars Ginger Rogers and Joseph Cotton. Rogers plays a woman on furlough from prison. On her way to see family for Christmas, she meets a soldier (Cotton). He's recovering from battle in the pacific, with wounds both physical and mental. In black and white, the casting and acting is superb. The sadness and self-awareness in Ginger Roger's performance is matched by Joseph Cotton's unease and vulnerability. As the two fall in love over Christmas vacation, the tension grows. How long can Ginger Rogers keep her secret? What will happen when her soldier finds out? This movie is set during WWII, and the bittersweetness of that time comes through. Having already faced the fragile nature of life, you believe these two deserve some happiness with each other.

Fred Claus is an unusual look at Santa Claus. In most Santa Claus movies, there are all kinds of convoluted devices to explain how Santa works, how he's real. In this film, Santa is from the typical dysfunctional family, with Santa's brother Fred being overshadowed by and eventually resenting his famous, sainted brother. Fred is played by Vince Vaughn, with his usual fast-talking bad boy persona to hide his unhappiness. With a stellar cast featuring Paul Giamatti as Santa, Miranda Richardson as Mrs. Claus (in addition to Kevin Spacey and Kathy Bates), Fred Claus is at it's best with Vaughn's glib wit and lots of slapstick. It's not G, so parents should watch first to decide if it's right for their kids.

One of the little twists in Fred Claus is how it breaks Hollywood's rule about being immortal: one of the prices for everlasting life is that everyone you love dies, while you live on. As Santa is immortal here, so is his family and wife. So merry everlasting Christmas!

Sex and the Single Girl

2009-09-08T10:13:00.001-07:00

It may be hard to believe, but some girls don't want anonymous sex with lots of guys. While this life may make Candace Bushnell, like Erica Jong of days of yore, deliriously happy, there are girls who find promiscuity rather tricky. Considering the glamour of genital warts and unexpected pregnancy, one can see the pitfalls. I've found three movies that show an alternative to our Sex in the City world of meaningless sex that has no consequences.

The Best of Everything is a luxurious look at late 1950's New York. The three young women in this film are drawn to New York for the same reason Carrie, Samantha, and Miranda are: adventure. The girls from The Best discover that sex without commitment leads them to...sex without commitment. While expecting to be cherished by their lovers, all three are disappointed by their men. While some viewers may think insanity is not a typical reaction to being dumped, I think today's sexually disappointed girls suffer from a panoply of problems, mental instability among them. How else do can you explain cutting?

In People Will Talk, superstar Cary Grant finds himself caught up in a young woman's unplanned pregnancy. Grant plays a gynecologist and famed healer in this 1951 film. He remarks about his female patients being pregnant and unhappy, or desiring pregnancy and being unable to achieve it. Then as now, fertility was an issue fraught with joy and heartbreak. Abortion is alluded to when Grant and a young woman discuss "peace of mind." An abortion may bring her peace of mind, but at the cost of his, the doctor's. Deborah Crain plays this unmarried mother. Crain is lovely, but not a great actress. The romance between these two is only part of the story. The most riveting part of the plot centers around accusations about Grant's past and his friend, Mr. Shunderson. This forgotten classic should be rediscovered. Along with thoughtful discussion, it's full of playful wit and plot twists.

In Come September, Rock Hudson visits his Italian sex kitten, played by Gina Lollabrigida, each September. Who would ever expect Gina Lollabrigida, international bombshell, to be jealous of virginal Sandra Dee? That's the sweet surprise of this film, where Bobby Darin and Sandra Dee first met (they eloped two weeks after the film wrapped). Sandra Dee and her girlfriends, traveling abroad for the summer, end up in the care of Rock Hudson. He takes his responsibility as chaperon very seriously; after all, he knows quite well how lecherous men can be. So when Bobby Darin and his pals show up, Hudson spends all his time protecting Sandra Dee's virtue and making sure she knows what boys are after. Gina, who has happily been Hudson's mistress, rediscovers her own value. Why hasn't Hudson protected her virtue? Isn't she worth marrying?

All three of these films resonate with the real experiences girls have, that we are just now admitting, namely that casual sex can be ruinous to a young woman's health, physical and otherwise. What's so crazy is that when these movies were made, everyone already knew that. A woman's natural reticence to unmarried sex protected her from unplanned pregnancy, disease, and, most importantly, from being used by men. What protects girls now?

Older Women Make Great Movies

2009-08-09T17:48:00.000-07:00

We've come a long way, baby - all the way to 1974. That's the conclusion I've come to after seeing The Women, the 2008 re-make of the 1939 classic. But this movie, supposedly celebrating women, just drags out the same old tired rant I've been hearing since I was 4 years old: don't invest your life in love, marriage, and family. That sentimental cliche is just a trap devised by the patriarchy. Talk about an old movie!

1939's film The Women was rich with sharp observations, sly dialogue, and fun-to-watch bad girl behavior. With Joan Crawford and Rosalind Russell in a sparkling Anita Loos screenplay, this classic is still hysterical. If you love vintage fashion and art nouveau design, you won't be disappointed. So the new version with Meg Ryan, Annette Benning, Eva Mendez, and Debra Messing, seemed to offer wit, dishy insults, and plush Manhattan views. But these Women miss the whole point of the classic Women, with its focus on female relationships, and then add insult to injury by adding a dated feminist slant complete with self-esteem jargon.

The original film's trailer said, "it's all about women." And it was - their real behavior, good and bad. I'm rather tired of the martyred heroine in so many movies. You know the one, the good and dutiful wife dumped by her husband who somehow rises above the mess to be an amazing mother and a career success. At the end of the movie she falls in love with Harry Connick, Jr. There are other stories out there, and the original Women showed the story of relationships women form with each other. Norma Shearer, Paulette Goddard, and Joan Fontaine showed us the prudent advice women give each other, the self-serving help that they offer, the delusions women have, and how they "get wise" to themselves. While the original movie's storyline does follow a marriage's demise due to infidelity, that's not the focus of the film.

What bothers me most of all about 2008's The Women isn't how it misses the big point of the original, which was a realistic portrayal of women, as daughters, mothers, and friends. It's how dated and untrue this movie's central theme is: that men and marriage limit women, keep women from the only success that matters, success in the workplace. Because according to Candace Bergen being a mother makes a woman "a failure." Devoting yourself to your family and eschewing a career shortchanges you and your children. This attitude along with the self-esteem touched on in the film really sets us back. For all the lip service to "female empowerment" and positive body image, this movies gives us the typical Hollywood ideal of supermodel-thin bodies and fashion. One of the characters, a darling little twelve-year-old says she "hates her body," so she gets the pep talks about valuing her true self. Then we see her grandma go in for a facelift. Meg Ryan, don't you see the irony?

The Women, from 1939, shows us what women really are with style and wit. The latest version re-made with a tired feminist agenda is doomed. It's far more out-of-fashion than the original.

Pessimism in the Movies and How to Stop It

2009-07-22T20:17:00.000-07:00

Okay, I made a big, big, BIG mistake. I watched the movie Blindness. It's one of those disaster-style movies, but these days the disasters, like in The Hot Zone or 28 Days Later, are deadly diseases. This disaster's in the title. For no apparent reason, people start going blind, instantly. So all the blind people are quarantined by the terrified public and helpless medical community. Then it turns into a concentration camp-style movie, where we get to see how depraved people really are. Ugh. Dreadful movie.

But what do you do when you get this garbage in your head? How do erase the images? You watch a better movie, something clever, with humor and style. Watch a movie that you make you glad you watch movies. I have a couple of suggestions: The Young Visiters and My Family and Other Animals. Both of these are charming, funny, but with sincere sympathy for the human being. These are movies about beauty and love.

The Young Visiters is a story written by a young English girl. It recounts the adventures of Mr. Salteena as he falls in love and seeks to win the hand of Miss Ethel. With Hugh Laurie, Jim Broadbent, and Bill Nighy, this Victorian fairy tale pokes fun at English social-climbing. Mr. Salteena knows he must "better" himself, put himself "on the right side of the blanket," to impress the pretty and snobby Miss Ethel. Try as he might, he may never succeed. Presented as a children's story, the film keeps all the innocence of its nine-year-old writer, while sweetly demonstrating the shallowness and injustice of that world.

My Family and Other Animals recounts the biography of Gerald Durrell, a zoologist. His English family relocated to Corfu, a Greek isle, for a short time in his childhood. Young Gerald spends all his time exploring the countryside, collecting a wide and varied zoo of creatures of all kinds. His eccentric family of his widowed mother, two brothers, and his sister all pursue their interests as well. One brother writes, another hunts, and his sister collects boys as Gerald does animals. This all occurs in the brief happy days before World War II, when Greece was invaded by Mussolini's fascists, then the Nazi's, then the Marxists. But what an idyll they spent, of sun washed beaches, warm, welcoming neighbors, and enough adventure for a lifetime.

While it may seem as though I am encouraging movie lovers to watch only sweet, pleasant movies and avoid the harsh reality of gritty truth, make no mistake. Films based on horrific historical events can be amazing and thrilling, while also being compassionate to humanity. And when there are already so many real-life examples of man's horror to his fellow man, why would a movie-maker make up a dreadful, new scenario that demonstrates how evil humans can be to each other? It seems to all be part of a world view, be it pessimistic and hateful or confident and sympathetic. I know which side of that comparison I'm on. Which side are you on?

Everything I Know, I Learned From Movie Trailers

2009-06-11T19:08:00.000-07:00

This summer's movies stretch as far down the block as the local multiplex. You've got the fun family flicks (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs); blockbuster action movies (Transformers 2 and GI Joe); and lots of comedy (Easy Virtue and The Invention of Lying). Here's a look at a few of our choices.

Pixar's latest, Up, was one of the first children's movies released this summer. It hasn't lived up to the reputation of its predecessors, but it promises eye-popping graphics and child-friendly humor. Based loosely on the children's book, Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs promises even better graphics and, as seen in the title, an attractive whimsy. The latest in the Harry Potter franchise is released this week. The hype is amazing - almost makes me want to see the movie. But after seeing the first one and most of the second, I couldn't figure it out. Why is this so popular? You can tell me about the Half-Blood Prince.

Transformers 2, continuing last summer's surprise success, has raked in lots of dough. I hope this one is as good as the last one. A simple, yet compelling story, excellent casting, and those Michael Bay-trademark special effects are a must. But little things mean a lot. Small touches, such as patriotism, devoted parents, and smart girls, bring the brainless action movie into the area of great movie, memorable movie. The newest Star Trek, for example, fell short of this. It seems hard to believe that another movie starring a favorite toy is also out this summer. GI Joe looks quite fantastic, according to the trailer, but it doesn't seem quite faithful to the old ideal. This new GI Joe becomes government issue with a super-soldier suit. Does this sound like fun to you?

Easy Virtue, set in the roaring 1920's, is based on an Oscar Wilde play. Jessica Biel plays a glamorous, reckless American who impetuously marries into British nobility. Kristen Scott Thomas and Colin Firth, as her in-laws, show her the error of her ways. Looks like a great cast, but I am a sucker for witty costume dramas. What would life be like if everyone told the truth right to your face? The Invention of Lying will let us in on that world. The Office co-creator Ricky Gervais wrote and starred in this comedy. With Jennifer Garner, Tina Fey, and Rob Lowe in the mix, looks like Gervais is finally getting somewhere. His brand of comedy, while hysterical, is tough for some to see.

Hope this short look at what's coming up helps you sort out your entertainment. Have a great summer going to the movies!

Star Trek Revisited

2009-05-25T18:36:00.000-07:00

Recently released as a summer action blockbuster, Star Trek has a lot to live up to. It's famous fictional characters, it's conflicts, and fake aliens created a culture that has entertained several generations of fans. Star Trek was such an iconic show that became it's own genre, generating countless sequels and copies. But remaking it all over again - should we really?

In this new movie, the characters of Spock, Captain Kirk, and Uhura are filled out with very attractive new actors. The casting of Simon Pegg as engineer Scotty was inspired. The venerable Sulu and McCoy were also cast well, but Anton Yelchin's Chekhov was a disappointment. Eric Bana plays the Romulan bad guy, Nero, which is perfect. Something about that guy makes him suitable only for being disliked.

Having only a passing knowledge of the original series, this new version of an old T.V. show worked well for me. For die-hard Trekkies or Trekkers, I suspect it has too many holes. The plot is rather flimsy. But the movie has an great, glitzy look. It seems bright, shiny, and wide-open. Unlike the claustrophobic, overly carpeted stage set from the original show, this movie looks like outer space. The lighting is so unusual, with flashes, reflections, and varying colors of roaming beams of light.

Star Trek is almost good, close to perfect for the brainless summer action movie. But the movie, like it's plot, doesn't leave you with anything really memorable. Blockbuster action, glamorous cast, and good effects - these only get you so far. The story ended with the sequel set-up, so maybe that will take us all the way there, all the way to perfect summer movie land. So far, this Star Trek doesn't take us "where no man has gone before."

17 Again

2009-05-17T17:09:00.001-07:00

Zac Efron was made into a white-hot movie star by Disney in the assorted High School Musical movies. His latest film, 17 Again, was primarily aimed at his 'tween fans, but was surely seeking the approval of older teens and parents. As far as the teen crowd, I doubt it worked too well. But with parents, I imagine this sweet, squeaky-clean depiction of high school and family life scores highly.

17 Again focuses on the long-term effects of teen sex and unplanned pregnancy. Matthew Perry, aged 35 or so, resents his family commitments and has become estranged from his wife and kids. His life was ruined, he thinks, when he married his high school sweetheart because she was pregnant. Zac Efron plays the teenaged Matthew Perry when Perry gets his wish to be 17 Again. I wasn't sure what to expect from cutie-pie Efron. But he can actually act, and this movie was pretty funny. Thanks to Thomas Lennon (from cable comedy show Reno 911), there's a lot of laughs.

The big surprise in this film is the connection made between sex and babies. When he's in health class on condom day, Efron's character gives a speech about love, sex, and having a family. The movie Juno made a splash with it's teen character dealing realistically with pregnancy, but did anyone ever use the word "love?" I can't think of any movie aimed at teens in recent years that mentions love, sex, and babies together in the whole script, let alone one monologue. Efron's speech is so touching that several teen classmates refuse the offered condoms.

Actually, adult Perry's life isn't that bad: mid-level corporate job, nice house, pretty wife, and healthy kids. So another twist in this movie is that teen pregnancy doesn't look that bad from the distance of a decade or so. Watching this movie, one might even conclude that teens getting married when they're in love and pregnant isn't the worst fate in the world. Considering the general acceptance of abortion in these cases, I'm surprised this movie came together like it did. Considering all the outrage aimed at young Bristol Palin, isn't the politically correct choice an abortion?

By taking a traditional look at teens and marriage, 17 Again offers an alternative take on the subject. Thankfully, Zac Efron makes it pretty hip. After all, this movie was #1 for several weeks, wasn't it? Looks like being traditional is back with Zac.

Duplicity

2009-03-21T20:43:00.000-07:00

Duplicity, with Clive Owen and Julia Roberts, is a fun thriller masquerading as a romantic comedy. With such smart dialogue, amazing plot twists, and real chemistry between the leads, this is better than anything starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. Throw in corporate intrigue and steal-the-show supporting acting by Paul Giamatti, and you have one of the best date movies in a long while.

Together with a truly unpredictable story line, there is the unforeseeable romantic dilemma: international spies have troubled relationships. One of the nice little surprises in Duplicity is seeing how secret agents manage being a dual career couple. Just like the typical ambitious couple, they have to commute between New York and...Cleveland. Those marital negotiations, along the lines of, "but I thought we would discuss it before you took the job," are mixed right in with the champagne and espionage. All of the trust issues normal couples have are magnified here, since this man and woman are trained in deception and charm. None of it would work, however, if Clive Owen and Julia Roberts fell flat. They don't. Their flirting and playfulness generate real heat, which is strangely rare in many romantic movies.

Another surprise in this film is the peek into corporate intrigue, with ex-CIA agents and hackers filling out the security staff. The business here is the personal care industry, with secret toothpaste recipes and guarded shampoo formulas. Do you know the difference between hand lotion and hand cream? Because they're really very different, according to the CEO played by Paul Giamatti. This apparently cut-throat industry requires not only anti-perspirant conferences and lipstick presentations, but bodyguards, doubles, and moles. Giamatti's glee in this role is obvious, and his portrayal of this confrontational executive is lots of fun to watch.

After dragging your guy to recent date movies, he may refuse to ever go again. Ask him to give you one more chance. Take him to see Duplicity, a romantic comedy that guys can bear to watch.

The New Ferris Bueller

2009-03-18T09:44:00.000-07:00

This is the way it works: parents are always such a mess, the kids are raising themselves and there's no one to help when you feel depressed, get pounded by the school bully, become suicidal, sexually active, and need help to quit smoking, too. Considering how dreadful life is as a teen, how fraught with disaster family life is, how miserable school culture is, it's no wonder teens need Prozac, Ritalin, Xanax, Paxil, or even a few beers now and then. Along comes Charlie Bartlett, kicked out of most of New England's prep schools, to the local public high school. Charlie's wealthy family has a psychiatrist on call, so Charlie knows more than most about your general psychological troubles and is willing to prescribe drugs from his own medicine chest, well-supplied by his own doctors.

More than anything Charlie wants to be popular, to fit in, to be accepted. And apparently this is just one scheme in a long line of schemes to be well-liked by his peers. This one only lasts until the first overdose. But it does get Charlie the popularity he's dreamed of. The young and appealing actor, Anton Yelchin, plays Charlie quite well, just a touch short of annoying child star. Whether Yelchin was a child star, I don't know. But he is very talented here, and it's refreshing to see this generation-next Ferris Bueller played by an obvious teenager, not a 22-year-old. Robert Downey, Jr., plays the principal you really feel pity for, especially as Charlie does him the favor of keeping his school in order. For the first time I can remember, this film makes the teenager's worst enemy, the high school principal, one of the most sympathetic characters you'll ever meet.

Now that we've mentioned the famous Mr. Bueller, we might as well go into the parallels here. Although the original had a great deal of style and whimsy, we were all in on the joke. Charlie Bartlett comes across as a more realistic Ferris Bueller, with more realistic problems than just wanting a nicer car to drive. And real life is never so clean as suburban Ferris was: on occasion, real kids have divorced parents with alcoholism. Remember now how sweet Ferris and his family were? I remember the adults hating Ferris Bueller, because let's face it, he was an annoying snot of a kid. And his Day Off made parents look like idiots, teachers like droning bores, and turned principals into sadistic fools. But think of how innocent it was: no booze, no drugs, no sex. Ferris had a happy family life with two happily married parents who adored him. And what did Ferris do when he skipped school? He went to an art museum, a baseball game, and joined a parade.

Charlie Bartlett is in many ways the typical American high school-themed movie. The misfit teenager desperate to find popularity, clueless parents, bullies, jocks, the sexy smart girl as the love interest - how to sort them all out? But this funny movie manages to make it through, manages to make sense of it a little bit.

Life and Loss in the Suburbs

2009-03-09T11:03:00.000-07:00

Henry Poole decides to give up. He moves into his old neighborhood and drinks himself unconscious. Even though it seems that Henry has no reason left to try, God is not finished with Henry yet. One of Henry's neighbors, a devout woman named Esperanza, discovers the face of Christ in a water stain on Henry's stucco wall.

At first, this is just exasperating to Henry, played by Luke Wilson. But this is just the crack God needs to squeeze back into Henry's world. First Henry meets the little girl next door, Millie, who suffers from abandonment and has stopped speaking. The parallels drawn between Henry and Millie reveal the crux of Henry's problem. He, too, suffered loss as a child and has never been quite whole since. You feel that the diagnosis that causes him to withdraw is just part of the same story of life letting him down, of God forgetting about him. Henry even has a safe space he created as a child, just like little Millie with the same kind of childish scribblings. But you find out that God hasn't forgotten about Henry, as much as Henry has tried to deny God and His power. Henry was drawn back to this neighborhood for a reason: here he meets people who care more about him than he cares about himself.

While a bit slow-moving and uneven, the subtle sweetness of this movie along with the charming cast save it. I enjoyed the sun-drenched California suburban location. It added to the reality of the characters and the story. Real lives are like this, with stories of loss and healing. The soundtrack is great, too, being rather alternative and folksy. I think there's even a new Bob Dylan recording in this film.

This film wasn't a big release and would never have been a big money-maker. Still, with a little help, it could have found a receptive audience, an audience that knows faith makes a difference and God leads us to healing.

A Feminine War

2009-02-20T20:20:00.000-08:00

Why, oh why, do guys go to see obvious chick movies? I read a review of Bride Wars written by a man, and he got it sooo wrong. Bride Wars is the story of two best friends played by Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson. Friends since childhood, they have both long dreamed of the same version of a perfect wedding: at New York's Plaza in June. But this movie isn't really about the weddings these two girls plan. All the wedding details, just like the clothes and shoes in Sex & the City, are just set dressing for a movie about women.

The male reviewer griped and groaned about how this movie makes women look bad by stereotyping them. But the funny thing is, girls do act this way. They freak out when old resentments bubble up and they can't contain them anymore. They know each other's sore spots and try to hit them. They people-please and have a hard time saying no to requests, even if they don't like the person making the request. Look, I'm not saying girls have only bad qualities. I'm a girl, too. But girls act more like girls because they're girls.

This film is really about the way women relate to each other. The contrast between the girls' fiances is telling: neither guy can figure out what the problem is. But one guy is exasperated by it, and the other guy just lets it go. So the second guy is the smart one. I only wish the reviewer I read had been so smart.

All the President's Sophomores

2009-01-27T11:46:00.000-08:00

Just the idea of two giggly teenage girls bringing down the Nixon administration is enough to make you smile. That they also stumbled across the Watergate break-in, ended the war in Vietnam, and negotiated peace accords between the US and the Soviet Union will really make you laugh. But you have to watch the movie Dick with All the President's Men in mind. If you haven't seen the President's Men, the jokes won't be nearly as funny.

All the President's Men tells the story of the two reporters who discovered the conspiracy behind the Watergate break-in. Don't be fooled - it's actually not the story of Richard Nixon and his minions. It's not about the conspiracy and you don't learn the details of the Watergate break-in. It's an homage to those leftist idols, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, whose fame (as they say) "launched a 1000 journalism majors."

With Dick, I don't know what was more fun: seeing boomer icons Woodward and Bernstein lampooned or seeing Kirsten Dunst and Michelle Williams play 15 year old girls with such silly accuracy. The bright and witty screenplay, the amazing recreation of circa 1972 Washington, D.C., and a loveable Nixon just add to the loony fun. C'mon, when have you ever seen Richard M. Nixon, disgrace of the Republican party (still!), portrayed with sympathy? Make no mistake, Nixon is presented here with all of his paranoia, evil machinations in play, and foul temper, but he's still likeable enough that cute little Arlene (Michelle Williams) develops a mega-crush for him. There's nothing as attractive as power, even when you're Dick Nixon.

One of sweetest aspects of this film is the innocence of these two girls. Even though they're in high school, they are quite wholesome. As the crass title informs, there are several adults-only jokes here. But the goofy portrayals of Woodward (Will Farrell), Bernstein, Nixon, and even Kissinger will make up for it.

This revisionist look at the political climate of the 1970's, the decade that created so many cynics, makes you wish it was all true. You wish Betsy and Arlene really had destroyed the Nixon administration with their Hello Dolly snack bars.

Ghost Town

2009-01-18T19:30:00.000-08:00

Ricky Gervais is famous for his comedic innovation. After creating the British television show The Office with Stephen Merchant, he brought his seemingly real, slightly uncomfortable sense of humor to American viewers with the same show, starring Steve Carrell. In Ghost Town, Gervais brings his uneasy wit to the movie screen.

Ghost Town is a romantic comedy of a sort. Gervais plays a dentist, Bertram Pincus, who is a classic misanthrope. He spends his time avoiding human interaction and prefers his own company. After a routine hospital procedure, he dies briefly. He goes about his normal life, abrasive and unfriendly, but he is inundated with visitors, visitors from the other side of life. That is, visitors from death, or ghosts.

You wonder, after seeing Gervais in The Office, how much of his work is acting. He's probably really that big of a jerk. His character from television, officer manager David Brent, is unlikeably real and creates such awkwardness the show can be as off-putting as his character. It's a mishmash of reality television and situation comedy, with it's jostling single camera and hard to discern plot. But in Ghost Town, Gervais exudes that same off-putting attitude, although with much more confidence. And at the same time, you are charmed by his unhappiness, his loneliness. That's what you never saw with his David Brent character. Brent is self-centered and self-serving out of sheer neediness, but you never sympathize with him. You can't stand him. The vulnerability and subtlety in Ghost Town is the real surprise and gift of the film.

And Ricky Gervais isn't the only actor bringing you that gift. Tea Leoni, as his neighbor, and Greg Kinnear, as the ghost of her dead husband, also work so well in this film. Tea Leoni, I think, is vastly underrated. I can only think of a few movies she's been in, like Spanglish and, way back there, Family Man. I can't even think of another one. Why? She's so talented at presenting the funny side of her character, and then revealing with sensitivity, the unhappiness that lies beneath. I think you'll wonder why she doesn't get more work in Hollywood.

One last aspect of this little film is its soundtrack. So rarely does the soundtrack seem to complement a movie well. And this film, funny and bittersweet, would be challenging to score. Thankfully, the music here has a quiet, charming tone just like its film.

Ghost Town offers so much more than the usual romantic comedy. If you want a silly, over-the-top, mainstream romantic comedy, this isn't it. But if want a funny, insightful comedy for adults, you may like this one.

Sister Bunny

2009-01-13T07:35:00.000-08:00

The House Bunny seems like a simple, funny, sexy movie. The idea was that a Playboy Bunny meets a group of nerdy college girls and they improve each other. The Bunny develops her mind and the college girls develop their femininity. Laughs, a little sap, and some sexy Playboy Bunnies should make for a light-hearted film. But it all goes deeper than that.

My heart was broken during the opening titles. Turns out the Bunny, played by Anna Farris, was abandoned at birth and grew up in an orphanage. She longs for a home and family. And when she becomes a beauty contestant at 17 and catches the attention of the Playboy corporation, she thinks she's found the family she always wanted. And the bunnies do seem like friends or sisters, shopping together, getting manicures, and dancing at parties. Right away, the filmmakers want to show how shallow and empty the Bunny's ambitions are. All she wants is to be Miss November. So far all she's done are pictorials, like Girls with GEDs. The filmmakers want you to get the message that beauty and a socially acceptable appearance are rather empty, and what matters is the content of your soul. But when you make a movie in concert with Hugh Hefner and his corporation, that message doesn't really stand a chance.

Of course the pretty Bunny is not only beautiful and sexy, but she's kind, open-minded, and innocent in a way. Which is quite a feat for a girl who showers with the photographer before her photo shoot. When she's kicked out of the Playboy Mansion for being too old, she lands near a sorority house full of misfit girls who are very smart but very dumb when it comes to social skills and push-up bras. So she gives them lessons in party-planning, cosmetics application, and how to wear revealing clothing. And they teach her how to read. The most important lesson she teaches them, of course, is about friendship, acceptance, and sisterly support. What matters most to Bunny, after all, is finding a home with a loving family. And she insists that that's what she had at Hefner's mansion.

It struck me was that, yes, those girls living at the Playboy Mansion probably do support each other. But not while picking out halter tops at the mall. Centerfolds already know how to look pretty sexy. And that can do wonders for your career, but what about your life? Seems to me that those Playboy Mansion shenanigans could wreck havoc with that. After spending time in the orgy room or hottubbin' in the grotto, what might happen? And this is where friends come in. You need your sister bunny's support when she has to take you to the clinic for another pregnancy scare or to pick up a prescription for another infection.

When you follow this train of thought, you begin to hope The House Bunny was right. You hope life for the Playboy Bunnies is full of real love, love that lasts, the love of good friends. I suspect they need it.

Find the Entertainment

2009-01-07T19:22:00.000-08:00

In the recent past, if I missed a show, I had to wait until the summer re-runs. Or if there was some old black and white movie from the 1940's that I wanted to see, I was out of luck. Recently, I could just go to my library. Luckily, the local library makes all the hot dvds available for free. Or lots of shows, like The Office or Lost, issue dvd sets with each new season. Right now, we don't even have to wait that long. We can catch whatever we missed streaming over the internet, via the network website, hulu, or other sites.

I've even watched some shows on youtube. They'll be broken into 10 or 15 minute chunks, but they still work fine. Usually, I only resort to this with something that is really hard to obtain, like BBC sit-coms (Murder Most Horrid) or PBS shorts (Posh Nosh).

Some shows I just love to re-visit, like Arrested Development or The Tick. I can watch those instantly on hulu.com or Netflix. By the way, I don't understand how The Office can be such a big hit, when Arrested Development barely made it. Arrested Development is almost a hybrid, between the typical family-centered sit-com and the fake documentary-style TV show, like what we see in The Office. And even The Office wasn't the first to do this. Before The Office(British or American), there was People Like Us, also from England. It was part of the late-night British sit-com lineup for PBS here.

If you want, you can even buy lots of these shows. Absolutely Fabulous or Black Adder are both hard to find, unless you purchase the dvd sets.

There you are: lots of suggestions for entertaining time-wasters. Here, I'll get you started. This link takes you to a bit of People Like Us on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_VND1196WI

Fixing A Fairy Tale

2008-12-29T19:23:00.000-08:00

Penelope is a modern fairy tale, or an improved fairy tale. But that makes it sound like medicine you have to take. Which it isn't at all - you will love the solution to the curse that turns Penelope from a pig-nosed girl into a lovely woman. One of the underlying themes, of the influence a mother has on her daughter's self-regard, is done very well here. You can see that Penelope's little pig snout would never have been such a problem for her if it wasn't such a problem for her mother. This kind of issue if usually done quite meanly and with a sledge-hammer. In this film, it's done with sublety and humor, like in a real family where everyone understands the mother's loving, while mistaken, attitude.

And this is a movie a real family could enjoy. Although it wasn't marketed as a children's film, it has enough wit and style for adults while remaining sweet enough for kids. Christina Ricci, in the title role, is wonderfully innocent and fresh here. Her romantic interest, played by James McAvoy, seems like a seedy loser at first. He's one of those trendy actors, nearly indistinguishable from Tobey Maquire and Elijah Wood. Those are the guys with the beautifully expressive eyes, but it seems to me they always look like they're about to burst into tears. Can those two actors come across as likeably down-on-his-luck as McAvoy?

The production design adds so much to this story. The sets, the costuming, the locations bring a Victorian veneer to what is a modern story. Rather dark at times, it reminds you of Tim Burton. But where Burton's style is menacing and gory, this film's design is whimsical and charming. It is a fairy tale, after all.

Theatre Britain

2008-12-09T07:31:00.000-08:00

It seems like only the best British films make it over the Atlantic, God bless it. But there is quite a variety: stuffy, costume dramas; intelligent comedies; and the newest James Bond installment.

While we're on the subject, I can't see the appeal of Daniel Craig, the newest Bond. He does bring the character out of that cheesy smirk left behind by Pierce Brosnan. Of course, Brosnan was fine in the role, but did he ever really come across as dangerous? He just wasn't threatening enough to carry it off, so it becomes camp. I love a good action flick, but this franchise is a little tiresome. Although it's still creative in the many wonderful and marvelous ways the human body can suffer death, after watching a few of these, you can't tell them apart.

British comedy is another animal. Thankfully, we're a little more sophisticated than Benny Hill and Mr. Bean. Although I still love Rowan Atkinson's Black Adder. The latest British guy to make me laugh is Simon Pegg.

Run, Fat Boy, Run is Pegg's new film and it's more mainstream then his usual movies. His previous Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz are hilarious and ridiculously gory. Shaun is a parody of the typical zombie movie, with the main character having a hard time telling the difference between disaffected, urban neighbors and the flesh-eating undead. Hot Fuzz is also a parody, but of PBS Mystery! series. Can you imagine bloody murder by garden shears in Miss Marple's quaint English village? Seeing the polite, reserved characters from those stories pull submachine guns from their picnic baskets is loads of fun.

With Run, Fat Boy, Run, Simon Pegg has gone all the way over to romantic comedy. Pegg plays Dennis, who left his very pregnant fiance at the altar and has never recovered. So in an attempt to get her back, he says he's running the London Marathon. Leaving aside the impossibility of preparing for a 26 mile run in two weeks, this is a sweet, heartwarming movie. If you like that sort of thing. But it's not done as well here as it could be. And overall, this Pegg movie isn't crafted as well as his previous comedies.

The last British comedy I've seen is Death at a Funeral, starring Matthew McFadyen. While very funny in part, the one gross-out scene kind of ruined the whole movie for me. Which is too bad, since it has a great collection of intersecting plots and hilarious characters. And I have started to love Mr. McFadyen, who I last saw as Kiera Knightley's Mr. Darcy. He was the one thing in that Jane Austen re-make that worked. How did he manage to play cold Mr. Darcy and generate so much chemistry? Even little Kiera couldn't manage that. Her Elizabeth Bennett was petulant and immature.

The last thing I must mention is that after watching a few British movies, you get the feeling that there are only 35 actors in the whole UK. You see the same faces over and over. In Death at a Funeral, however, it was refreshing to see lots of new actors onscreen.

Local Anesthetic

2008-12-04T09:25:00.000-08:00

Local Hero was recommended for years. A good friend told me several times that it was one of her favorite films. It was critically acclaimed, beautifully photographed, and dead boring. This was the kind of film that gave critics a bad name, before Mamet and Tarentino made moviegoers hate critics for new reasons. Yes, if you love Scottish travelogues, you may like this film. And it promises all kinds of bittersweet character development, but it never delivers.

Made in 1983, just as Hollywood was getting on the environmental soapbox, it portrays a monster oil company attempting to purchase a village on the Scottish coast to build an oil refinery. Unexpectedly, all the residents are delighted. I kind of thought this was going to be a David vs. Goliath contest, between hardy, honest fishermen and a big, bad corporation. Not at all - Burt Lancaster, supposedly the villain as the oil company CEO, is an eccentric engaged in alternative "insult" therapy and interested only in astronomy. He's first shown napping in a board meeting. Peter Riegert, sent to arrange the purchase from the villagers, plays along deftly and sincerely, slowly falling in love with this small, quiet village and its lovely views.

But it doesn't work. I'm no greenie, but even I would hate to see a picturesque fishing village spoiled by petroleum and chemical processing. Even in the early 1980's, surely the Scottish government would have had something to say about an international corporation building a major refinery along 3 miles of its pristine coastline. And then there's the seals. Nearby, there's a bay for endangered seals. Are you trying to tell me there wouldn't have noise from the local treehuggers and biologists about the seals?

I guess I could get happy about the reality of the Scottish fishermen and villagers in this film: they're dreadfully poor, and very happy about the millions they're about to receive. They're going to move elsewhere, and don't seem to care that their beautiful village will soon be a poisonous oil refinery.

Don't Convert

2008-12-03T18:30:00.000-08:00

Lots of chat out there about the new converter box you will need to watch TV if you don't have cable. Even though I am a TV/movie junkie, I haven't had cable in about 10 years. Who needs it? Anything I've ever wanted to see was easy to get without spending money to have 300 channels, 275 of them being sports and assorted other garbage.

What with episodes on-line, all kinds of shows being released in DVD sets, and home delivery movies, all your entertainment needs can be met. I fell in love with the original Office, the British one, when I was given the DVD set as a gift. And in recent years, if you have a fast internet connection (like DSL), you can see most things on-line. I was dying to see the new French & Saunders sitcom Clatterford (or Jam & Jerusalem in the UK). Found some episodes on youtube. Found the rest of them at Netflix (my favorite!). You can even get TV and movie podcasts, although the laptop is as small as I want to go.

So who needs a converter box? Who needs cable? Ditch them both!

The Thanksgiving Theme

2008-11-25T09:21:00.000-08:00

While there are many holiday movies with Christmas as their theme, and more produced every year, the Thanksgiving theme has only generated one or two films. The family favorite (though not necessarily family-friendly) Planes, Trains, and Automobiles is the first that comes to mind. Steve Martin's torturous journey home from a business meeting with ne'er-do-well John Candy is famously funny. It captures the "everything that can go wrong, will" of traveling as well as the yearning for family and home we all experience once in a while. The late John Candy is the best part of this movie. A seemingly true loser, we all run into guys like this who perpetually and unknowingly create problems for the rest of us smart, successful types. We all identify with Steve Martin's buttoned-up businessman, but you have to wonder: are you the John Candy-esque troublemaker for some family member or co-worker?

Another true loser was the Holly Hunter movie Home for the Holidays. Holly Hunter's character travels home to her dysfunctional family for Thanksgiving, running into all the old craziness of parents and squabbling siblings. But most of these "all families are crazy" movies reveal that there really is love and closeness underneath all the mess. Not this one. All the mean-spirited antics and teasing in this movie leave you disliking the family as much as they dislike each other. And this just adds more fuel to the Hollywood fire that home and family are dreadful traps.

Which leads us to Woody Allen's Thanksgiving-themed film, Hannah and Her Sisters. With all the craziness of your typical New York family, this movie is rife with adultery, infertility, and catered cocktail parties. Actually, this is a funny, charming movie with Allen's trademark touches ridiculing modern art, rock music, and passive-aggressive wives. But as with all of Allen's movies, love isn't true love without illicit sex. Eventually the characters in this movie do come to grasp what the rest of us know: physical passion is all-encompassing for a while, but it won't get you to "happily ever after." In this film, as the family gathers for Thanksgiving, Michael Caine, the narrator, sees how family and home bring much more profound happiness.

Tropic @*&#@!

2008-11-22T21:37:00.001-08:00

What's a word for beyond offensive? Whatever it is, Tropic Thunder is it. And along with being shockingly offensive, it is extremely funny and well-crafted. Which sounds crazy, I know. While it's a parody of everything Hollywood, you begin to wonder: is Hollywood really like this? With jokes about every kind of ethnic stereotype, the money-grubbing producer, the merchandising, even special effects experts, we can all laugh at Hollywood itself. But jokes about the mentally challenged, Vietnam vets, and third world adoption are very tricky. But writer-director Ben Stiller, along with his numerous co-stars, pulled it off.

There are so many movies like this, funny but over-the-top disgusting in their humor, exploitation, and language, like Wedding Crashers, 40 Year Old Virgin, and the whole American Pie franchise. But none of those work as well as this one. And none of them have such a perfect cast. When you watch this, you can't imagine anyone else playing these roles. Ben Stiller, who is not one of my faves, really captures the washed-up action star, and Jack Black is the only actor who could've played druggie comedian Portnoy. Brandon T. Jackson and Jay Baruchel are two unknowns in this film, and even they are cast well and, lucky for them, given great lines in this hilarious and insightful script. But the most amazing actor in this film is Robert Downey, Jr. His portrayal of an Oscar winning badboy so into his Method that he changes his skin pigment is unlike anything you've ever seen Downey do. He's usually the cynical smartmouth with the sarcastic expressions. The way he plays a blowhard "serious" actor playing an African-American in this movie is astounding.

Fans of the usual crude comedies might not like this one: it's smart. If you think you can take the language, nudity, and gore, try it.

Then She Lost Me

2008-11-14T09:14:00.000-08:00

Then She Found Me, the latest from Helen Hunt, was disappointing. Such a great cast - Colin Firth, Matthew Broderick, Bette Midler, and Helen - what happened? Well, the movie resembles the book not at all. The novel Then She Found Me is low-key with lots of internal dialog. And it's own story is better than what they came up with: desperate 39 year-old wants a baby, but her marriage collapses as her adoptive mother dies and her birth mother contacts her. In the novel, even the threads work better than this screenplay. The adoptive mother in the novel is a Holocaust survivor, which obviously yields much more interesting character development for her and the daughter she adopts. And, with all due respect to Helen, she looks MUCH older than 39 in this movie. How old is she really? It's actually pretty hard to have sympathy for her, when she backslides into her failed marriage with Matthew Broderick while Colin Firth longs for her from the sidelines. Look, Ferris Bueller was cute, but he's no match for devastating Mr. Darcy.

Elinor Lipman wrote this novel, and of all of her books to turn into a film, this was not the best choice. I love her work, but it is usually too subtle for movies. Except for The Ladies' Man - now that has some really funny scenes and excellent one-liners. That novel could work as a movie.
There's so much chick-lit out there: The Spellman Chronicles by Lisa Lutz, Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination by Bridget Jones' author Helen Fielding, or nearly any of the Helen Wells books by Meg Cabot (so funny with a sexy heroine). Helen Fielding's Olivia Joules is hilarious, with a blockbuster climax as the Oscar ceremony receives a bomb threat. You'd think Hollywood would be all over this cameo-rich opportunity. But maybe they're afraid they'll give someone a bad idea. Seems like Helen Hunt got the bad idea with this one.

French Bikini vs. American Bikini

2008-11-13T12:07:00.000-08:00

Just watched a gorgeous film, Bonjour Tristesse. While it has a flimsy story, the cinematography is worth it. Set in the late 1950's on the French Riviera, the locations, the fashions, and the lovely French teenagers more than make up for the plot, which follows the summer adventure of a French girl and her morally casual father played by David Niven.

This is the French version of Gidget in my opinion. Although, they are two very different movies, both are quite in tune with teen desires and conflict. Strangely, it is the American Gidget who comes across as more mature, although certainly not more sophisticated. The simple plot of Bonjour Tristesse is driven by the temper tantrums of a lovely brat played by Jean Seberg, who is annoyed when her father's new fiance threatens her summer romance. Deborah Kerr, as daddy's new fiance, is quite startling: she plays a French fashion designer with remarkably strict moral guidelines. Who knew? Maybe way back in 1958, such things existed. Deborah Kerr's prudish fashionista was marvelously cast, as are all the roles. You can hardly blame our little teenagers: tiny bikinis, loads of free time, and you're FRENCH! Why wouldn't you make out in the sand?

While Bonjour Tristesse has the stereotypical European decadence, Gidget is the opposite. Little French teenager Cecile flunks her exams and takes her father's philandering in stride. All-American Gidget, however, makes surfing a skill and maintains high standards all day and far into those night-time parties.

And over the summer, wholesome, lovely Gidget works her magic, although she is completely unaware of it. Her natural innocence and girlishness is so attractive to these surfer dudes, they're inspired to do all the things they've forsworn in their beach-bum lifestyle: get jobs, go to law school, and be responsible citizens. Gidget inspires these losers to be MEN. Amazing. And she didn't even try to - it just happened.

Pilot

2008-11-12T19:32:00.000-08:00

Introducing MovieGirl - your full-service entertainment blog. Need movie suggestions? Let's face it, there are soooo many choices out there. So let's sort them out. I'll help!