Filed under: Movie Reviews | Tags: Colin Farell, Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Robert Duvall, Scott Cooper, Thomas Cobb
The Price of Redemption
Life has a way of relentlessly providing lessons, like this: don’t eat pizza bread with garlic, because just minutes later you could be sitting next to “Mel Gibson circa 1985″ at the movie theater (not the actual Mel “Sugartits” Gibson, girls, don’t get too excited). “Mel” was nice enough to pretend not to notice that my breath smelled like I was trying to fend off an entire Wes Craven movie, but thinking that life cannot surprise you is seriously wrong. In the words of Captain Jack Sparrow: Spiritually. Ecumenically. Grammatically.
And this movie shows how interesting life can rock your socks like a mean country music song. Bad Blake (Jeff Bridges) is a has-been country music singer, who drank too much, smoked too much, married too many women and slept with one heck of a lot of way too many of them. When journalist Jean (Maggie Gyllenhaal) starts asking some probing questions, the real man behind the music slowly emerges.
The older and more stubborn you get, the harder the lessons are. Spiritually. Physically. Professionally. Those like Bad Blake that were touched by the muse, get away with a lot because they are gifted. But Bad is a hopeless drunk and anyone who was ever forced to deal with an alcoholic in full frontal denial knows that they lie, steal and cheat while smiling at you and tell you not to worry.
But there is always a limit. When a man gets old that limit often is a physical one. Bad Blake can still perform. He can still get laid after a show, no matter how undignified. But he is slowly and perpetually losing steam. And he knows it and short-sightedly numbs himself by any means unnecessary. Classic addict behavior.
He has people who care for him, but manages to keep them at arm’s length, slowly giving in to a painful and suffocating demise. But here is hope, once Jean and her 4year old son enter the picture. Bad transforms into a self-reflective addict, whose sobriety has been a long time coming. It is not classic textbook, it borders on miraculous and thankfully the movie does not give in to the temptation of providing a satisfying crescendo. There is a price to pay for redemption and it ain’t pretty.
Jeff Bridges is a joy to watch. Although am not sure how calculated a move it was to set one of his first scenes in a bowling alley. I was half expecting him to say: “The dude abides”. He manages to look cool and aloof in one scene and heart-achingly old and useless in the next, while learning a very brutal lesson in human connections. One thing that bothered me was the love story between Jeff Bridges and Maggie Gyllenhall. It was kinda offbeat and would have been much better with an older actress.
First time director Scott Cooper is very, very timid and over-cautious. Clutching a familiar bag of tricks. But who can blame him, really? Still the script got me working up quite a second story in my head.
And admittedly it was a stroke of genius to cast Colin Farell as Tommy Sweet. Sweet. There was an audible gasp when he entered the frame. So unlikely and so great.
Also, the score is a definite asset to this movie.
One of the more interesting running gags I’ve seen in a while made me wonder whether the working title was: “Crazy Heart – Open Pants”. You’ll know what I mean…
Written and directed by: Scott Cooper
Written by: Thomas Cobb (novel)
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Colin Farell, Robert Duvall
Release dates:
December 16th 2009, USA
March 4th 2010, Germany
Filed under: Movie Reviews | Tags: Anthony Peckham, Eddie Marsan, Guy Ritchie, Jude Law, Mark Strong, Michael Robert Johnson, Rachel McAdams, Robert Downey Jr., Sherlock Holmes, Simon Kinberg, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Boys will be boys, Part 2
(for part one, click this)
One of my friends recently told me that my blog unmistakably screams my yearning for, shall we say male company. The words he used, from what I recall, sounded like being corny and getting late. But my fragile mind may have scrambled that up a bit. Ok, I admit. I am a little desperate, but that is easy for him to say, being gay and all. On planet hetero things are slightly more complicated than an initial “You, go” commonly initiating contact in the gay universe.
And so I am deflecting and delighting myself by watching some handsome dudes on the screen. Frankly, it could be worse.
In case anyone was wondering why on earth Guy Ritchie would try his hands on “Sherlock Holmes”, fret not, because Mr. Ritchie makes it clear from the very first second that this is not your usual detective story. There are some familiar benchmarks, as the address 221b Baker Street, the pipe, the bohemian habitat, the ego, etc., but all in all this is a heavily inebriated comic version with quick-tongued antics and a mild gay undercurrent. Just as you would imagine it.
Which I find relieving because I am still waiting for a new “traditional” version starring Hugh Laurie as Holmes and Stephen Fry as Watson. If you don’t know what I am talking about I suggest you check out “Jeeves and Wooster” or “A bit of Fry and Laurie”. Pure genius.
Guy Ritchie does his usual thing. Who can blame him for making cathartic movies that have women as accessories and men beating each other up constantly? I don’t. But when watching his movies I always get a sense of him pointing out “look what I can do” or “I’ve always fantasized about doing this in a movie”, like an overexcited 5year old with a tractor that spits fire. Admittedly a talented show-off of a 5year old. But that might be too harsh. There is lots of attention to detail, particularly the well-made sound design, the great costumes and the obvious freedom RDJ gets to do whatever he wants. Smart move. I hereby profess my eternal love for the reformed sinner Robert Downey Jr. Gusto, guts and glory. Love it. And Jude Law fills a frame nicely. No complaints here.
One more thing though: The fast-paced heist confusion that usually works for him is kinda, well, confusing here. It works on ensembles, but when the plot follows two people it gets messy.
More fog on the screen, less in the story. Otherwise very entertaining.
Directed by: Guy Ritchie
Written by: Michael Robert Johnson, Anthony Peckham, Simon Kinberg (screenplay)
Lionel Wigram, Michael Robert Johnson (screen story)
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Rachel McAdams, Mark Strong, Eddie Marsan
Release Dates:
December 25th 2009, USA
December 25th 2009, UK
January 28th 2010, Germany
Filed under: Movie Reviews
5 Reasons to love Clint Eastwood
1. Is there anything he cannot do?
After being elected the South African President, Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman) initiates a unique venture to unite the apartheid-torn land: enlist the national rugby team, the Springbok’s, lead by their captain Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon) on a mission to win the 1995 Rugby World Cup.
I am usually not a big fan of contact sports or politics in movies, but Clint Eastwood manages to perfectly capture the uproar of a country, the excitement of the game and the quiet impact of one man. The interplay of sports and politics is sprawled beautifully in the script, the direction is precise and uncluttered and the acting is superb.
Both Freeman and Damon get immersed in their roles. I have no clue as to how one would even start to play “inspirational” or “transformative”. But Freeman makes Madiba Magic nothing short of inspiring. Notably impressive is the physical transformation of Matt Damon (even more so somewhere in the heavy vicinity of “The Informant”). Those soft yet burly barbarian shoulders sing the level of commitment of everyone involved.
Man, it would be fun to be on one of his sets. I certainly would obey any utterance from Mr. Eastwood’s laryngity vocal cords and love it, no question.
2. Pure class.
Scenes that might have been impossibly hokey or even desperate are not. Clint Eastwood does this with no frills and lots of detail (like the traditional Maori war chant, the Haka, which is performed at every game to intimidate rival teams) without being obvious and/or preachy. The Springbok’s visit to the Robben Island prison cell, where Mandela stayed for 24 years brings back some Shawshank and even a little redemption.
3. Every one of his movies is a film lesson.
“Gran Torino”, “Changeling”, “Million Dollar Baby”, “Mystic River”. Watch and learn, kids.
4. He is one hell of an Octogenarian.
And he is steadily improving as a composer. How impossibly infuriating! It is a joy to watch Mr Eastwood doing what he obviously loves to do. One can only hope that arriving at this age to be as comfortable, wise and willing to bring a vision forward with such determined grace.
5. Humor.
On Oprah, when asked about the age difference between him and his younger wife, he answered: “Well, if she dies, she dies.”
Hope, you’ll be around for a long time and many, many movies to keep making my day.
Directed by: Clint Eastwood
Written by: Anthony Peckham (screenplay), John Carlin (book)
Starring: Morgan Freeman, Matt Damon, Julian Lewis Jones
Release dates:
December 11th 2009, USA
February 5th 2010, UK
February 18th 2010, Germany
Filed under: Movie Reviews | Tags: Anna Kendrick, George Clooney, J.K. Simmons, Jason Bateman, Jason Reitman, Sam Elliott, Sheldon Turner, Up in the Air, Vera Farmiga, Zach Galifianakis
Have a nice day!
Sometimes I sit there in a darkened theater, a few minutes into the movie and think to myself: Ok, I love this one. And a few times this crush survives the second act. And very rarely, even the ending. This is one of those cases.
Aside from the damned fine writing, “Up in the Air” also provides a killer role for George Clooney as Ryan Bingham. His job consists of flying around the country firing people. He has made traveling into an art form, a calm and effective microcosm in a collective and equally effective macrocosm. He is virtually unmoved by his difficult assignments, experienced in offering the firees to “follow their bliss” which clearly to him is bullshit and a corporate mockup coverup, but mysteriously works. It works because he is expertly “faking depth” during these encounters that would crush anyone with a soul. Ryan Bingham has arrived at this state as result of inexperience, avoidance and fear that is challenged when his company begins to “ground him”. Sorry for the (” “) metaphorical mayhem, there is just a lot said with a little in this script.
One could always argue that Clooney is too handsome, but this role provides yet another opportunity for him to be shockingly deep and vulnerable. In the Mount Olympus version of Hollywood I imagine him as a kind of Zeus, known unjustly and heavily voyeuristically for erotic escapades, but striding forward, supreme and ultimately human.
Jason Reitman exacerbated a quality in Clooney that is perfectly illustrated in a scene in “Out of Sight”. Clooney has just robbed a bank and says to the female teller: “Have a nice day”. She bats her eyelashes and responds: “You too”. He is part soul seducer, part clown and part executioner. And comfortingly there is so much more beneath the surface.
His female counterparts are perfectly cast and beautifully acted by Vera Farminga and Anna Kendrick.
And lastly, “Up in the Air” is a very refreshing twist on the “a man learns the importance of commitment” lesson that is so tackily overused in especially romcons. Thank you for being classy. It so rarely happens.
Directed by: Jason Reitman
Written by: Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner
Starring: George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick, Jason Bateman, J.K. Simmons, Sam Elliott, Zach Galifianakis
Release dates:
December 4th 2009, USA
January 15th 2010, UK
February 4th 2010, Germany
Filed under: General Madness
Depending on your gender, “If you build it, he will come” is either a reference to a popular sports movie (slightly adjusted like a jockstrap during a game of baseball) or to an episode from “Sex and the City” season 2 called: “Was it good for you?” when Miranda buys new sheets to improve her sex karma. And there it is, the entire problem. And it keeps jumping me, only metaphorically. Sometimes that is a good thing.
I would like to share with you a scene from my life and matching Facebook thread that is verbatim, just as it happened today:
I wrote: Do men really think they can impress women with shouting incoherent “business orders” into a cellphone when sitting next to you in a cafe? That is beyond hilarious, especially with a thick Bavarian accent. Sakradi! (Sakradi is a Bavarian term that is literally untranslatable, a jovial grunt of annoyance).
2 minutes later:
I wrote: Now “Claus” is talking about people partying half-naked in the sand. He greeted the other person with “alles logge?” (don’t ask). I think he has officially reached the boundaries of his marketing vocabulary. The contingency wasn’t a remote one, kids.
Another 2 minutes later:
I wrote: “Claus” has left the building.
2 of my girls (Yvi and Julia) instantly liked that with a thumb’s up (a Facebook thing in case you’re not familiar).
Then followed this:
Yvi wrote: probably his best move today.
Svenja wrote: Men… will they ever learn?
Yvi wrote: we need to teach our sons the right way to do it soooooonnnn…
kleines Beispiel: habe in die Puppenküche gestern eine Stoffrose gesteckt…mit dem Kommentar in Justus`Richtung: ” Sohn, merke dir, wenn du einer Frau das Frühstück ans Bett bringst, gehört eine Blume mit dazu!” Er ist zwar erst 2, aber vielleicht hilft`s 
a little example: I put a rose into the doll’s kitchen yesterday… with a comment directed to my son Justus: “Son, take note, when you bring a woman breakfast to bed, there should be a flower! He’s only 2, but maybe it helps
I wrote: Yvi, du gefällst mir immer besser!
Yvi, I am liking you better and better
Svenja wrote: @kristie: Wenn Du lange genug wartest, kannst Du ja Justus heiraten 
If you wait long enough, you might be able to marry Justus
Yvi wrote: ich fall gleich vom Stuhl vor Lachen….ihr seid süß Mädels …
Yvi finds this hilarious.
Svenja wrote:
bei dem Tempo was kristie beim daten vorlegt, ist das ja wahrscheinlich mit justus. wäre auch praktisch, weil sie dann vorher durch dich einfluss auf die erziehung nehmen kann. HAHAHA.
With Kristie’s speed, this will probably work out. and it is really practical because she can influence him through you in his upbringing. HAHAHA.
I wrote: Ich heirate NIE!!!! Obwohl Justus sicher mal ein Schwiegermuttertraum wird. Ohne Frage.
I am NEVER getting married. But I am sure Justus will be every mother-in-law’s dream.
Svenja wrote: Na, das mit dem “Nie” werden wir Dir bei passender Gelegenheit noch mal aufs Brot schmieren. Klarer Fall von Sagniemalsnie und Habichdochgleichgewusst.
She doesn’t believe me.
Yvi wrote:och ja…”ich heirate nie” hab ich schon ganz oft gehört…von vielen, (jetzt) verheirateten Müttern
They don’t believe me at all.
I wrote: Bin leider völlig unfähig! Schwer vermittelbar sozusagen. Da sind schon andere total daneben gelegen mit Vorhersagen. Leider. Ich glaub ich wäre eine Spitzenehefrau.
I am a complete dating idiot. Others have tried and failed. But it think I’d really make a kick-ass wife.
Julia wrote: Yvi, vergiss nicht, Justus zu erklären, dass ältere Mädels eh mehr zu bieten haben – sonst wird das nix mit Kristie und ihm:-) HAHAHAA!
Yvi, don’t forget to tell Justus that older girls have more to offer, otherwise this will never work out between them. HAHAHAA
Yvi wrote: mmmhhh …ich hätt da auch noch einen ganz brauchbaren Bruder (Brudi, verzeih mir, dass ich das jetzt hier so kundtue, aber Kristie ist toll)
mmmhhh… I have a nice brother. (Bro, forgive me for selling you out, but Kristie is really great.
A day in the life. Girls, you are fabulous!!!
Filed under: Movie Reviews | Tags: Andrew Bergman, Cathy Moriarty, Elisabeth Shue, Garry Marshall, Kevin Kline, Michael Hoffman, Paul Johansson, Robert Downey Jr., Robert Harling, Sally Field, Sheila Kelley, Soap Dish, Teri Hatcher, Whoopi Goldberg
Pardon me, I’m having a life here.
For the last couple of days I have been taking a working stroll in TVland, a financial necessity. I guess it is a bad sign when you’d rather not share what exactly you have been working on, so don’t ask. I view my job in this field as a meditation on how we are all going to hell. It is just the degree of hysterics that varies. “Soapdish” just makes all this and the terrible rest a little better.
Celeste Talbert (Sally Field) is the queen of Misery. She is the star of “The Sun also sets”, a cheaply produced Daytime Soap. But the show’s spiraling ratings and predictable story lines force the producers to do something drastic. This comes very handy for her supporting cast members, who have secretly been plotting her downfall. When Celeste’s love interest from a lifetime ago Rod Randall (Kevin Kline) is re-hired and her long lost niece Laurie (Elisabeth Shue) charms her way on the show, a drama of unforeseen proportions and consequences unfolds. It is just a case of behind the scenes drama imitating art. Just like in real life.
From the opening scene at the Daytime Emmys (“Ohhh, there’s so many people to thank. First of all, my fabulous supporting cast, who gives a new meaning to the word “support”… – Bitch! – Hag! – I hate her so much!”) to the last ballroom shot, every member of the all-star cast gives a fantastic performance. I think that especially Sally Field’s is one of the most brilliantly histrionic ever captured on screen. It is 30Rock meets “The Bold and the Brash” in an 80s stlye showdown. It has great sets, over-the-top clothes and very memorable cameos. It is one of the best comedies ever made. If it slipped by you, rent it. If you’ve already seen it, re-visit and old, charmingly hysterical friend.
The writing is nothing short of brilliant. Here are a few moth-watering lines:
You don’t realize how serious this operation is. You will not have a brain when it is complete. – I don’t need it, take the damn thing. – Alright everyone, clear the restaurant.
I just, I think if we could try it one more time, and this time… I don’t know… maybe try one without your shirt.
I don’t feel quite right in a turban. What I feel like is GLORIA F***ING SWANSON!
Deliciously funny. No one can cry like Sally Field. No one is oily like Paul Johansson, villainous like Cathy Moriarty and no one can squish and lift her breasts into position better than Teri Hatcher. Whoopi Goldberg is dark and sarcastic, Robert Downey Jr. is the proverbial producer and Kevin Kline a helplessly narcissistic actor.
At last, DRAMA!
Directed by: Michael Hoffman
Written by: Robert Harling, Andrew Bergman
Starring: Sally Field, Kevin Kline, Robert Downey Jr., Cathy Moriarty, Elisabeth Shue, Whoopi Goldberg, Teri Hatcher, Garry Marshall, Paul Johansson, Sheila Kelley
Release dates:
May 31st 1991, USA
August 23rd 1991, UK
September 12th 1991, Germany
Available on DVD
Filed under: Movie Reviews | Tags: John Cusack, Lee Sobieski, Max, Menno Meyjes, Molly Parker, Noah Taylor, Ulrich Thomsen
Art+politics=power.
My great-grandmother saw one of Hitler’s first speeches here in Munich and she immediately knew he was trouble and she was in even more trouble. She was a progressive woman, very outspoken, never wanted to get married. She was an actress, a writer and to make a living, a seamstress. This impossibly seamlessly translates to me being a cutter, family history repeating itself. I just realized that.
“Max” also made me remember a high school history class where the question “how different would the world be now, had Hitler been accepted at the Vienna art school?” was posed by a teacher, who shortly after was involuntarily committed. But it is a relevant question, although the mode of delivery was a little frightening at the time. Hitler’s hellish art and politics have obviously left their mark, especially here in Munich. It is still very openly visible in the architecture. Hitler’s impact on the art world was concise and gashing. The Nazis developed their very own ideal art and declared existing modern art as corrupted and degenerate, coined with pessimism and pacifism. The artists not in blind accordance with the Nazi Kitsch ideal were persecuted, forced to leave or murdered. Occupational bans and desist orders for painting were issued and the artworks were confiscated and removed from public viewing. Among those artists that failed to meet the Nazi ideal were Ernst Barlach, Max Beckmann, Otto Dix, Max Ernst, George Grosz, Ernst-Ludwig Kirchner and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff.
“Max” takes place in Munich in 1918, before all this happened, depicting friendship between a Jewish art dealer named Max Rothman (John Cusack) and an aspiring painter, Adolf Hitler (Noah Taylor). Hitler before politics. Their common bond is the experience of WWI, Rothman having lost an arm, rendering him unable to even draw and Hitler, desperately wanting to be a painter, but lacking an artistic soul. How can you find your inner voice when it is drowned out? It might possibly be why the horror unfolded. This is what makes this character study and Noah’s performance so intriguing. Cusack is equally brilliant as his counterpart.
It is an example of how intricately events can intertwine and mutually depend on each other. How the self-concept of one man can change the course of history when sparked at the wrong time and how differently people deal with the same experiences. And the powerful mix of visual perception and simple words.
Fascinating and thought-provoking.
Written and directed by: Menno Meyjes
Starring: John Cusack, Noah Taylor, Lee Sobieski, Molly Parker, Ulrich Thomsen
Release date:
December 27th 2002 , USA
June 20th 2003, UK
available on DVD
Filed under: General Madness
Unfortunately this is what most of my day looked like… Staring at small bars driving like Miss Daisy. That is all for today, kids.
foto
Filed under: General Madness
Kind of an oximoron. Being creative means letting go. Go with the flow. Let things happen. Happy accidents are my favorite. I do my best work when I go “in the zone”, when it is suddenly night and I have no idea how I did what I just did. This is post #100 and it still looks like Chaos Rules. But as C.G. Jung put it: In all chaos there is a cosmos, in all disorder a secret order. Working on it!
Filed under: General Madness
Yes, Latin. I took Latin in school. Go figure. I would not survive two sentences in Ancient Rome. One of them would probably be “Morituri te salutant”. Otherwise it’s all “People called Romanes, they go, the house?” from here.
However, this motto means: solving while moving. And it just sounds all imperial rolling off your tongue. See, strut and conquer.
Filed under: General Madness
At the risk of sounding detached, I think love and beauty can be found almost anywhere. I took this photo at the Jewish Cemetary in Berlin Mitte. I found a heart right among tombstones that were nearly destroyed in 1943 by ignorance and stupidity. Or as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. put it: I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.
Filed under: General Madness
It’s 2010. It is even, divisible without remainder and it literally looks like things are moving forward. I like that. New year’s resolutions however are so 2009. Inspired by my friend Svenja this year I am trying something new: mottos. My first motto is: Be yourself.
It is harder than it looks, kids. It is possibly the hardest thing to do. I never get comfortable enough with people to dare being myself. This makes me of course insanely boring to everyone else. I am getting that now. So this year I will not try to save anyone from me. Especially anyone who reads this blog.
I am already liking myself better.
Filed under: General Madness
January started with an insane amount of work. Jipee! Although I never really believe it until the check is in the bank. So I will post more sparingly for a few days. But I would like to encourage you to rummage through the innards of my intent. Enjoy this oasis of sense and sensitivity.
Filed under: General Madness | Tags: 2012, Avatar, G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra, hurt locker, Inglorious Basterds, new moon, Revolutionary Road, Sunshine Cleaning, The Princess and the Frog, Up
Hi munchkins,
I am not doing a “best of the decade”. Mainly because I have spent a good part of the past 10 years in hibernation. But 2009 has been kind of interesting. This blog (now up to about 50.000 words) is tremendous fun. For me at least and let’s face it, that’s what matters. (I’m kidding, I like bringing joy to tens of people around the world.) Since I am not sleeping with anyone, my writing senses seemed to be heightened. (I haven’t really figured this universal interconnectedness thing out at all. This goes right along with my theory why I always get the best parking spaces, but grossly lack what really matters in life.) Hint to self: It might have something to do with unneccessary and uninteresting detours.
Here are the movies I gave the highest ratings:
Five Stars:
Avatar
Inglorious Basterds
I didn’t review “Gran Torino”, but it would have made this category as well.
Four stars:
2012
Hangover
The Hurt Locker
The Princess and the Frog
Revolutionary Road
Sunshine Cleaning
Up
The front-runner “one pity star” movie is of course, well, it’s a tie between New Moon and G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra. But somehow they still managed to outwit 1989’s “Karate Kid, Part III”, which set an impossibly high bar.
For a complete list of the other 60+ reviews, click this.
On the madness front, the most popular one was definitely the “Austrian Milkmaid Porn” debacle. “Ist der Ruf erst ruiniert” seems to have delighted some of you. And finally, the 2012 photo call for me seems to have been the weirdest of all. I am still in recovery from that one. There is just not enough green tea chocolate in the world.
Whatever happens next, I’ll keep you posted. Thanks for reading. All the best for 2010!
Filed under: Movie Reviews | Tags: Alec Baldwin, It's complicated, John Krasinski, Lake Bell, Meryl Streep, Nancy Meyers, Steve Martin
Can you make a romantic movie without believing in love?
Let’s face it, whenever we’re dealing with love on the screen (and off), it feels like high school. Later it feels like high school with better cars, bank accounts and shrinks, but it still boils down to, and I am sorry for repeating myself, high school.
And when you get to be a certain age it is like that, only with flabby skin, family ties and a targeted shot of tranquilizers. It is still complicated, but much slower.
This is the story: Jane (Meryl Streep) hooks up with her ex-husband Jake (Alec Baldwin), who is married to a much younger woman. Jane is also drawn to Adam (Steve Martin), her architect, which makes things complicated. Streep, Baldwin and Martin are a great cast, obviously. Streep is fantastic in anything she does and it is refreshing that she still has all of her facial muscles intact and operating. Kudos to you! I worship you, Goddess of the Screen.
Baldwin and Martin do their thing and make you wonder what outstanding stuff they could do in a different genre.
Nancy Meyers knows what she is doing. She has clearly established that. In a recent NY Times article, there was a question whether anybody can make a movie for women. Much of this movie’s advertising likes to allude to the fact that it is a movie “for women”. But it seemed to me that this woman didn’t care what she wanted. And she was too, forgive me, old and wise to really give a damn. “It’s complicated” misses the magic of “The Holiday” and the female prison break of “Something’s gotta give” and the sassiness of “What women want”. It is too much of what women want and that is not a holiday, in fact it is so complicated that something’s gotta give. And that might be a romantic nerve. I will not go as far as saying “heart”. Funny and charming and likeable, well-crafted, but clearly not whole.
I think one reason this movie might be for women is, that the men sound nothing like you expect them to. Much of Alec Baldwin’s dialogue sounded like it was supposed to sound for a movie for women. Or as Meryl Streep puts it in the movie: “So this is how grown-ups talk”.
And much of Steve Martin’s sounded like what women want to hear. But I am sad to say that this is just as cliché as women wearing high heels all the time and falling over and being cute simultaneously. It made me seriously wonder whether Nancy Meyers actually subscribes to the concept of love anymore. As biased as it is. It resounded more with life than it is sensible to do. For what it was originally aiming at. It will make you laugh, but it will also make you uneasy.
I would have liked (and I hope I am not spoiling this for you) to see Alec Baldwin run off with Steve Martin at the end. Now that would have been really complicated! But I guess I am going to have to wait until the 2010 Oscars to see that bromance happen. Can’t wait!
Written and directed by: Nancy Meyers
Starring: Meryl Streep, Steve Martin, Alec Baldwin, John Krasinski, Lake Bell
Release Dates:
December 25th 2009, USA
January 8th 2010, UK
January 21st 2010, Germany
Filed under: 26098961
Happy undenominational Holidays, everyone!
ps: Check out the anatomically undenominational reindeer.
Filed under: Movie Reviews | Tags: Ed Begley Jr., Evan Rachel Wood, Henry Cavill, Larry David, Patricia Clarkson, Whatever works, Woody Allen
Every time I see a Woody Allen movie I cry a little.
Reason1: Consistency. When I was standing in line at the movie theater, there was a young couple behind me, who seemed unsure whether they wanted to see the movie „Whatever works“. Maybe the title threw them. The nice girl at the counter turned around to her colleagues and asked for a synopsis of the movie. My almost Pavlovian response was: „It is a Woody Allen movie”. Apparently, some people need more info. Really? How on earth is that possible? They didn’t look Amish, but maybe they have been part of a secret government experiment and had their cinematic cortexes removed. Highly probable. He’s churning out at least one a year, for heaven’s sake.
Reason2: Flawlessness. Thankfully I am not eternally traumatized by “Everything you always wanted to know about sex” although I think the collage of images I remember from it might provide a highly revealing look into my deranged psyche. I have ignored Woody Allen movies for years after seeing “Celebrity”, which I completely despised. And then there is the whole daughter/wife thing. But I really don’t want to get into that. Then I saw “Matchpoint”, totally unprepared for its simplistic elegance. And then I found out just how many great Woody Allen movies I have missed. Anyone who has ever dipped their little toe in the bracing waters of the strudel that is screen writing can only benefit from the compiled neurosis that produces such effort and flawless and annoyingly elegant writing. It is almost disconcerting.
Reason3: Casting. After wolfing down 6 seasons of “Curb your Enthusiasm”, thoughtfully provided by the lovely Svenja, I have developed an appreciation for Larry David, despite the fact that he reminds me of my father. “Curb your enthusiasm” is not available in German. For good reason, the “SoupNazi” never was a big hit over here.
Woody Allen and Larry David are a match made in neurotic movie heaven. Allen could have easily cast himself, but he made a brilliant choice that makes you wonder whether the two weren’t separated at birth.
The minute Boris Yellnikoff started ranting to the audience, about the randomness and worthlessness of the existence, I loved this movie. Larry David is good. He is really good. And he is not even playing himself. Talking to the camera is rarely done convincingly. In fact, the entire cast is stellar.
Reason4: It threads like fold recognition. Boris Yellnikoff (Larry David), all Gilgamesh and quantum physics meets barely legal Mississippi runaway Melodie St. Ann Celestine (let it roll off your tongue and weep that you didn’t think of that, kids). A roommate arrangement turns into marriage despite Boris’ reclusive rage and because of Melodie’s eyelash-batting impressionableness. After all, when it comes to love, “whatever works” is Boris’ motto. This unholy matrimonial bliss is disrupted when Melodie’s mother Marietta (Patricia Clarkson) suddenly shows up. She among other things relentlessly tries to fix her daughter up with a man named Randy James (Henry Cavill). Ok, now that is making me cry.
Yes, it is yet again another old geezer young woman scenario. Interestingly enough, it is not getting old. Who dares to mesh religious fanatics, misanthropy, beauty pageants and quantum mechanics into one movie? And then turns it around into a statement that could possibly save the modern world. Apparently it is all string theory, really, and love. Who’d have thought?
Reason5: Cut, Woody, cut. And as an editor it sometimes drives me nuts how he doesn’t cut. Just had to mention that.
Reason6: Despite Boris’ disclaimer, this one actually is a feelgood movie and a hilarious one at that: „That’s why I can’t say enough times, whatever love you can get and give, whatever happiness you can filch or provide, every temporary measure of grace, whatever works “.
Science is saved by love. Hooray. Damn you, Woody!
Written and directed by: Woody Allen
Starring: Larry David, Evan Rachel Wood, Henry Cavill, Ed Begley Jr., Patricia Clarkson
Release Dates:
June 19th 2009, USA
December 3rd 2009, Germany
Filed under: Movie Reviews | Tags: Avatar, Giovanni Ribisi, James Cameron, Michelle Rodriguez, Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Zoe Saldana
Revolutionary, beautiful, transformative.
Every once in a while the forces of the universe align and something extraordinary happens. Even in movies. Something that is so vastly superior and in a complete league of its own down to the minutest of details that one does not want to spoil it by stating the obvious.
Just this footnote: I think this movie is the perfect, almost prophetic parable for the current crossroad that the US finds itself at. It represents the state of the nation, right down to the leaves falling from the ruins of Hometree, that so eerily resembles Ground Zero, it makes you choke. Take as little or as much as you want from this, but when you stumble out of that theater all dazed and confused, think about what you just saw.
How James Cameron was able to fit all this into his head is a complete mystery to me. Once again raising the bar on attention to detail that is unattainable for the next decade. And that statement is not very prophetic.
For once I am lost for words. It’s damn near perfect. Don’t go, RUN to the theater to see “Avatar”. And do yourself a favor and see it in 3D.
Written and directed by: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi
Release Dates:
December 18th 2009, USA
December 17th 2009, UK
December 17th 2009, Germany
Filed under: General Madness
Hi kids, my 5 pagan movie recommendations for the holidays are:
5. Dogma (although I would advise you to fast forward through the “rubber poop monster scene”).
Fallen angels trying to go back to heaven, the 13th apostle, serendipity on a stripper pole, Alanis Morissette as God and the last descendant of Christ, who works at an abortion clinic. This one is actually deeply religious.
Metatron: “Human beings have neither the aural nor the psychological capacity to withstand the awesome power of God’s true voice. Were you to hear it, your mind would cave in and your heart would explode within your chest. We went through five Adams before we figured that one out”.
4. Constantine
So obvious. A supernatural detective who wants to buy his way into heaven by killing demons crossing over to our plane. The wager between heaven and hell is on earth. Can Keanu save this world with no facial expression? Yes, he can.
Angela Dodson: John, there is no seventeenth act in Corinthians.
John Constantine: Corinthians goes to twenty-one acts in the Bible in Hell.
Angela Dodson: They have bibles in Hell?
John Constantine: Paints a different view of Revelations. Says the world will not end by God’s hand, but be reborn in the embrace of the damned. Though if you ask me, fire’s fire.
3. The Ice Harvest
Billy Bob Thornton, John Cusack and pole-dancing strippers on Christmas. That sells it for me.
Charlie Arglist: Christmas Eve. Ho ho f***ing ho.
4. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Crazier than Christmas. Sweeter than Christmas cookies. Kookier than crazy. Willy Wonka is semi-sweet and nuts. Johnny Depp is a kooky cookie. I am suddenly hungry…
Willy Wonka: And the rest of you must be their p-p-…
Mr. Salt: Parents?
Willy Wonka: Yeah! Moms and dads!
[expression darkens]
Willy Wonka: Dad? Papa?
5. Moulin Rouge
At the price of sounding hokey, I love this movie.
3 words: Elephant Love Medley.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
