THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123, THE AMERICAN FRIEND, HANNAH AND HER SISTERS, A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES, DAWN OF THE DEAD, WILD STRAWBERRIES, PULP FICTION, THE BIG LEBOWSKI, 8 1/2, PSYCHO, TORN CURTAIN, CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS, BROADWAY DANNY ROSE, AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH, TIME INDEFINITE, DR. STRANGELOVE OR HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB, HALLOWEEN, A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, HELLRAISER, DECONSTRUCTING HARRY, EYES WIDE SHUT
Oct
17
Here’s the redux’d version of GREY FOG – Winner of “Best Horror Film” at the 48 Hour Film Festival - you’ve all been waiting for:
Aug
10
HBO’s new show this year is probably the worst in its recent history. Hung’s premise is ludicrous: A school teacher (Thomas Jane) who falls on hard times (and presumably has a large member) resorts to prostitution in order to make money. Aside from the silly premise, this show has several other things going against it… list them, you plead? Sure. For one thing, this show has absolutely no edge. I mean, it’s not original at all seeing as the plot borrows (not so subtely) from Boogie Nights and Weeds. What is it about this show that’s supposed to hook us? There have been five episodes so far and I can’t remember any of the characters names…. I’ve seen one episode of True Blood and I can name at least five characters from that lame adult answer to Twilight. There is very little character developement, which is fine since I doubt Thomas Jane is a capable enough actor to rise above the “tough guy stuck in a bad situation” character he always gets stuck with (see Deep Blue Sea, Punisher, Dreamcatcher, The Mist, etc…). The only character it seems worth developing is his pimp, played by Jane Adams – the shows one saving grace, but they’ve had plenty of time to do that yet it doesn’t’ seem to be worth the writers time. The issue of character developement is probably Hungs biggest problem as it comes on right before Entourage, where they somehow fit in four – sometimes five storylines easily into a half hour. Hung should at least be able to weave one storyline effectively, yet it seems content with sending Thomas Jane (and us, unfortunately) on one meaningless trick after the other. Each episode I watch I ask myself what the point of it all was and I just can’t come up with an answer. Which brings me to my final greavance… OK, the name is HUNG, it’s about a guy with a large member… Is it just me or is there a promise somewhere in the title? I suspect the reason they haven’t shown the titular appendage is that they (the writers) consider it too gimicky, which it is… but that’s what they chose to name it, right? The show is head scratchingly boring and it’s not that I, or anyone else for that matter, is foaming at the mouth to see Thomas Janes large prosthetic penis, but I get the feeling that the writers are trying to pull a Jaws type situation where the monster isn’t revealed until the last act. I just don’t get this shows appeal and I suspect that nobody else does either so I won’t worry too much about it’s prospect of being on this time next year…. whew!
Jul
26
So… This is the 48 Hour Film* that I and Cameron Chiles worked their asses off on this past weekend. The randomly selected genre was “horror” which worked out well because of my contacts from working as Script Supervisor on the horror film Dead Start. While the credits give me ‘writing and directing’ credit Cameron was as much responsible for it as I was (for better or for worse, HA!) For more information on the 48 Hour Film Project go to www.48hourfilm.com.
* As per 48 Hour Film Project rules, each team – ours was Electric Return Productions – randomly selects a genre and has 48 hours to write, shoot, and edit a film.
Jul
14
Aside from the meat of a film, the middle that is, the most important parts are the ways you open and close it. I would argue that the later is the most important since the final scene in a film not only ties up all that has come before it, but also needs to leave a lasting impression on its audience. It must be very, very difficult since not too many film endings stick out at me… but as for the ones that do stick out in my mind, these are the endings that blow me away every time I see them.
10: KING OF KONG: A Fist Full of Quarters
Since the entire documentary is about a tactical war between two characters fighting for the mantle of highest score in Donkey Kong, it’s only fitting that the final scene (after showing sad sac Steve Wiebe receive an apology from his tormentors, Twin Galaxies, finally recognizing his accomplishments) be an amazing montage of scenes from video games. Each snippet is an image of characters, vehicles, or machines in battle all set to “Ride of the Valkyries” perfectly illustrating what it’s opening quotations by Burroughs suggests: “This is a war universe. War all the time. There may be other universes based on all sorts of other principles, but ours seems to be based on war and games.”
9: Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
Everyone knows through the whole film whats going to happen to Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. It is with great anticipation that you watch the last few scenes, where they are set up by one of their cohorts. And indeed it happens… they get shot in their car, many times over, in fact. This, in itself is nothing spectacular, but what’s great is how the expression of the sheriff leading the execution mirrors that of the audience, no doubt feeling that same anticipation. Once the dust settles and he gets a good look at the couple sprawled out everywhere he lets out a sigh of relief and then the credits roll.
His fathers house, normally seen on Earth
8. SOLARIS (1972)
Say what you will about this whale of a film… It may be over long at points, and certainly takes its time divulging its secrets, but the ending is one of the most haunting in film history. In the beginning, Dr. Kris Kelvin visits his elderly father, for Dr. Kelvin will shortly be going to a space station to investigate some strange goings on, most notably the planet this station orbits… Solaris. The trip will be too long for Kelvin to see his father again, so this is goodbye. But since the planet likes to dredge up the past of anyone who observes it, it’s not exactly goodbye. In the final moments of the film, Kelvin gets down to the planet and finds a replica of his fathers house and when he walks up to the door the old man answers and the two share an emotional hug, which lasts until the credits begin to roll.
Rowlands and Hackman enjoy a romantic stroll through Central Park
7. ANOTHER WOMAN (1988)
Woody Allen’s very Bergman-esque tale of Marion, a 50 year old Philosopher(Gena Rowlands) who begins reflecting on her life after eavesdropping on a mostly unseen woman’s talks with her shrink. Throughout the movie Marion is reminded by flashbacks of all the different times in her life when she’s deprived herself of happiness, family, and true love. What makes the ending so grand is Gena Rowlands expression as she reads from a section of a book which is supposedly based on her. As she reads, she also remembers… the scene in question involves Rowlands leading on her husband’s best friend (Gene Hackman), they sneak a kiss in Central Park and for a the first time in the movie she get’s passionate about something, only to quickly put her shield back up. The final moment presents an interesting reflection as Gene Hackman’s book asks “Is a memory something you have or something you’ve lost?” Marion doesn’t answer the question, but you can see she’s figured out the answer.
6. BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA (1986)
John Carpenter’s one true cult film in his catalog of cult films finds his favorite actor, Kurt Russell reluctantly battling supernatural forces in the titular locale. Though Kim Cattrall plays the beautiful girl Russell’s truck driver cum hero, Jack Burton, must save, it’s not her that he drives off with into the sunset in the end. No, Jack’s ego is just too great to share the spotlight with anyone, so he ends up alone with his 18-wheeler, CB radioing in one of the most amazing monologues ever written for an action movie. (see picture)
5. Death Proof (2007)
Another movie happening to feature Kurt Russell. This time Russell is a deranged stunt man – Stunt Man Mike – who gets his kicks from murdering young women with his ”Death Proof” Car, at times seeming to take Cronenberg’s Crash a little too literally. Unfortunately for him, the last half of the movie finds him stalking the wrong group of women… stunt women! After they turn the chase around on him and wreck his car, they drag him out and beat him to death, jump up in the air in celebration as a big retro looking ‘THE END’ freezes the triumphant heroines in mid jump.
4. Pink Flamingos (1972)
The ending that created and solidified John Waters’ mantle as the Pope of trash, King of puke, Sultan of sleaze, etc.. The ending is the culmination of the feud going on between the Marbles and Divine’s insane clan, a feud to prove who is the filthiest of all. If incest, bestiality, murder, theft, indecent exposure, and cannibalism weren’t enough to prove Divine the winner, then the last few seconds should. Divine walks around the corner of a building, sees a poodle taking a crap, then runs over and eats it. The final image gives literal meaning to the phrase “shit eating grin”.
3. Dr. Stangelove or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
Perhaps the most iconic film about nuclear annihilation ever made was a comedy. It’s amazing that even Stanley Kubrick could manage to pull off such a feat, given that it was released less than two years after the ‘Cuban Missile Crisis’ and that school children were being shown “duck and cover” videos. Despite it’s unfortunate (or prescient) premier, the film stands out as an allegory for government silliness and ineffectiveness. So in the end, Peter Sellers (in three different roles) tries and fails to stop General Ripper from activating the “Doomsday Device” which will trigger a mutually assured destruction type scenario. But so it goes, as Billy Pilgrim would say and we get the most famous scene in the movie right at the end as Slim Pickens rides a nuclear bomb like a Bull… YEEHAWING all the way down.
2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
The best film of the last decade… Charlie Kaufman’s science fiction love story is something like a cross between Annie Hall and Total Recall . The story centers around a couple (Kate Winslett and Jim Carrey) inexplicably drawn to each other, who find out they’ve both been erased from each others memory. Michel Gondry brings a welcome visual flair and is mostly responsible for the ending in question. After realizing that their relationship has already ended in heartache, Carrey and Winslet decide to give it another go. The film cuts from the couple embracing in an apartment corridor, to the snowy Montauk beach, where the two play in the snow on a repeating loop, apparently destined to make the same mistakes and revelations over and over for the rest of their lives.
TIE!!! I just cannot decide between these two endings. They’re both so amazing it’s too hard to make a call!
Blood Simple. (1984)
The Coen Brother’s first film is a gritty, Hitchcockian film noir about a Texas love triangle gone horrible wrong. The best character, however, exists outside the triangle – M. Emmit Walsh’s sleazy unnamed private detective. Tying up all the loose ends of a murder is not simple, as all the characters find out.. As the detective stalks down everyone tied to a cuckolded bar owner he finds that while he may be the smartest guy in the movie, he isn’t the luckiest, as a case of mistaken identity gets him shot by the bar owners wife. Laying underneath a bathroom sink, dying, he looks up at the piping and noticies a drop of water formulating and is curiously frightened. The last shot is of that drop falling toward his head as The Four Tops “Same Old Song” begins to play. What does it mean, exactly? I’ve never been able to decide for sure but it amazes me every time I see it.
Barton Fink (1981)
Another Coen Brothers favorite of mine. The lauded New York playwright Barton Fink moves to L.A. to write a film, but spends most of his day either staring at his typewriter or staring at an odd picture in his baron and drab room. This odd picture is of a woman on a beach, shielding her eyes from the sun. Though the people he meets in the City of Angels frequently let him down… this picture remains his only source of consistency and escape. Unable to write anything that both he and his studio can appreciate, while also narrowly escaping a fiery death by his deranged neighbor (John Goodman), Fink literally escapes to the beach and happens upon a coincidental situation. While sitting on the beach reflecting on his many failures a beautiful and somehow familiar woman walks by, he asks if – because she’s so beautiful – she happens to be in pictures. “Don’t be silly” she replies before sitting down, looking into the ocean and shielding her eyes from the sun. Confused by the suddenness of art becoming reality, Barton looks on in amazement before we fade to black.
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Jul
11
Is it a testament to a film maker when his films are no longer judged by their merits, but by merits of the actual film maker? I suppose the answer is yes and no… when you’ve made 40+ films, your audience tends to be able to predict certain details of your next one. So, it seems that as of late, Woody’s films are either loved or hated based on how effectively they make you forget that he married his own (sort of) step-daughter. Unfortunately for Whatever Works, the comparisons to his private life are too easy to connect; forget that it was written in the 70’s as a vehicle for Zero Mostel, long before Allen’s personal life became tabloid fodder. The plot concerns Woody Allen surrogate Boris Yellnikov (played by professional Woody Allen surrogate Larry David), a burned-out physicist and uber-genius, surely destined for infinite bachelorhood if not for the nubile southern waif (Evan Rachel Wood) who suddenly appears on his doorstep, needing food and a place to flop. Boris reluctantly agrees to let her stay and then- almost as reluctantly- falls in love with her.
Afterwards, in quick succession, fate begins knocking at his door as her estranged neo-con parents (Patricia Clarkson and Ed Begley Jr.) literally knock on his door in search of their runaway southern belle. Woody Allen uses the magic of New York (which he thankfully returns to) to reform the backwards southerners, giving them each a preposterously liberal twist – Clarkson becomes a swinger and Begley realizes he is gay. Now… remembering that it was written in the 70’s, one can easily point out the similarities to that particular era in Woody Allen’s career. Boris is a fan of the aside, where he looks into the camera and directly addresses his audience, making long… doubly long hyper-neurotic speaches about the transient nature of love and happiness before settling for the titular idea that… ”whatever works” is enough. That’s all fine and dandy, except for the fact that this has to be Woody’s fifteenth movie circulating the same themes and characters around. USUALLY that’s not a criticism I take seriously of a Woody Allen picture, but here he seems to have directly addressed the issue, Boris stating that “Sometimes a cliche is finally the best way to make one’s point.” If that was meant as a rhetorical type comment, I would have to say again, well … yes and no.
Jun
28
While the term ‘Cougar’ is a relatively new definition – an older woman who ‘preys’ on young guys – the concept is certainly an age old one. In fact, films have been exploring the subject for a long, long time. Throughout the thirties, Mae West famously woo’ed a slew of young leading men (including a 20 something Cary Grant) and since then there have been several memorable films about this special kind of May/December romance.
Sunset Blvd. (1950) - Norma Desmond
Probably the most famous cougar in film (at the very least the most quotable), Gloria Swanson’s Norma Desmond sets the mold for every modern day cougar. She’s rich, well connected, elegant, and filled with enough promises and one liners to keep the object of her obsession, struggling screenwriter Joe, interested and around for a while. Though perhaps a bit crazier than most cougars ( she does shoot Joe when he finally gets the balls to leave), she’s easily the most sympathetic. For those of you who don’t know the story: aging and forgotten silent film star Norma Desmond toils away in her Sunset Blvd. mansion – having funerals for her chimpanzes – until Joe Gillis accidentaly wanders in while trying to escape from repo men. BOOM! Norma’s in love and thinks that Joe is the perfect man to write her comeback role… so she uses everything at her disposal to keep him in her life.
PENULTIMATE COUGAR SCENE: Norma dresses like Charlie Chaplin and gives Joe a performance as ‘The Tramp’ and his expression looks like he realizes he’s been abducted by some kind of alien.
GREAT COUGAR LINE: Norma describes her assets to Joe: “Shut up, I’m Rich. Richer than all this new Hollywood Trash! I have a million dollars. Own three blocks downtown, I’ve got oil in Bakersfield pumping, Pumping, PUMPING!
THE GRADUATE (1967) – Mrs. Robinson
Coming in a close second to Norma Desmond would be Mrs. Robinson, played by Mrs. Mel Brooks… Anne Bancroft. After reaquainting herself with young Ben Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) at his graduation party, Mrs. Robinson begins her art of seduction even though she’s roughly the age of his mother. When asked if he finds her attractive, Braddock’s reply is classic “Oh, yes, I think you’re the prettiest of my mother’s friends.” Their hotel rendevous eventually end quite badly when Ben starts dating Mrs. Robinson’s daughter, and the elder Robinson suddenly morphs into a crazy, Disney level evil queen.
PENULTIMATE COUGAR SCENE: The first time Ben realizes Mrs. Robinson’s intentions… trapped in Elaine Robinson’s bedroom while Mrs. Robinson quickly strips.
GREAT COUGAR LINE: “Benjamin I want you to know that I’m available to you, and if you won’t sleep with me this time I want you to know that you can call me up anytime and we can make some kind of arrangement.”
HAROLD AND MAUDE (1971) - Maude
Most people think this is one of the strangest movies ever made. Bud Cort plays Harold, a rich kid – obsessed with death- whos parents think he should settle down, so they create a series of dates that go hilariously wrong. Ruth Gordon plays Maude, an elderly woman living life to the fullest. Their paths intersect at a funeral, where Harold spies Maude trying to steal his hearse, beginning their adventure. Along the way, she steals several other vehicles, as well as Harold’s heart. Maude teaches Harold to curb his suicidal appetites and embrace life like she has. Like with all “Cougar Films” it ends in tragedy. Maude, for all her talk of life, transplanting trees in parks to the forrest, lecturing Harold on how sad most people are, etc… has no intention of living past the age of 80. Indeed, he meets her on her 80′th birthday, wishing her well, only to get the reply “I took the tablets an hour ago… I’ll be gone by midnight…”
PENULTIMATE COUGAR SCENE: Harold gives Maude a gift – a coin with the engraving “Harold loves Maude.” Maude admires it, then throws it into a fountain right in front of him.
GREAT COUGAR LINE: “Vice. Virtue. It’s best not to be too moral. You cheat yourself out of too much life.”
** RUNNER UP (this line is not uttered by the Cougar in question, but it’s too amazing not to mention.) Priest: ” I’d be remiss in my duties if I did not tell you that the idea of intercourse – the act of your firm, young body… comingling with withered flesh… sagging breasts… and flabby b..b..buttocks… makes me want… to vomit.”
Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN (2001) - Luisa Cortez
Road trip films are great, so even better that Alfonso Cuaron weaved into his mini masterpiece a cougar (Maribel Verdu) so enticing she could snag not one, but two young men (Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal)! The story involves two best friends who embark on a trip to a beach called Boca del Cielo with an older woman, Luisa, that they are both attracted to. Little do they know her situation or intentions… Luisa has terminal cancer and just found out her husband is cheating on her and sees the road trip as an opportunity to teach her two co-pilots a thing or two about the ways of the world.
PENULTIMATE COUGAR LINE: ” You have to make the clitoris your best friend.” RESPONSE: “What kind of friend is always hiding?”
GREAT COUGAR SCENE: Near the end, in a nearly wordless scene, Luisa takes the two guys out to a restaurant, plays from the juke box and her dance is enough to attract both guys into bed with her for one of the most talked about threesomes in recent film history.
May
05
Possible more than any other genre, horror films address religion in the most interesting and unbiased ways. From scaring people to go to church to making people angry at it, these films made people think twice about who they choose to worship…
One of the creepiest posters ever!
The Wicker Man (1973)
Dubbed by some as “The Citizen Cane of horror, this film from beginning to end is so mired in religion, it sometimes can feel a little preachy… that is, until the end. The story follows Sergeant Howie (Edward Woodward), who goes to the remote island of Summerisle in search of a missing girl. Howie, the staunch Catholic immediately clashes with the residents of the island, especially Lord Summerisle (Christopher Lee), who is worshipped as a sort of demi-god, responsible for the fruit harvest which finances their community. This pagan village vehemently denies the existence of the missing girl, despite several clues to the contrary and continues to simultaneously frustrate and repulse Sgt. Howie with their blasphemous rituals…. which culminates in the mysterious Wicker Man festival that requires a human sacrifice. SPOILER. Howie soon learns that the missing girl is not to be the sacrifice and that he has a bigger role in the festival than he thought he would. Trapped in the belly of the giant Wicker Man, which is set aflame, Howie shouts prayers to God, asking for help, He, of course, remains silent while Summerisle and his clan sing to the god of the harvest, confident that this sacrifice will reap a healthy crop.
"Spare some change for an old choir boy, Father?"
The Exorcist (1973)
The Exorcist is the most famous Catholic film of all time for two reasons. First of all, the Catholic Church initially banned its members from seeing it. Secondly, most Catholics who defied the papacy and watched it became regular Sunday attendees afterwards. In other words, it scared the Catholic church with its depiction of an out of date practice of exorcism (though the scene with the crucifix didn’t help) and then scared anyone who saw it back to the church, hoping to save their immortal souls from demonic possession.
"The box... you opened it, WE CAME!"
Hellraiser (1987)
In the deranged sadomasochistic world of Clive Barker, Hellraiser comes as close to depicting a realistic Hell as any other film has. In this film, Hell is actually an alternate universe, accessed via the Lament Configuration – a puzzle box that when opened summons creatures called ‘Cenobites’. Cenobites, as they describe themselves in the film, are:
(relevant) “Demons to some, Angels to others”
(interesting) “Explorers in the further realms of experience”
and (irrelevant yet mysterious) “Hirophants of the order of the Gash.”
So, while they aren’t technically from Hell and they aren’t technically demons, they represent all the mysticism and unknown of not only Christianity, but also Buddism and Hinduism. Here, “Hell” is used more figuratively than literally, though where the Cenobites intend on taking some of the characters in the film is certainly hellish.
watch despite camp tagline
The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988)
Wes Craven’s film about a drug rep/ anthropologist (Bill Pullman) who goes to Haiti in search of a drug rumored to be used by a voodoo cult to create zombies. When he gets there he not only finds the drug, but also a lot of voodoo spells that the locals use to get rid of outsiders.
Apr
03
Woody Allen is probably best known for being one of the greatest writers for women and his leading ladies are always showered with nominations from the Academy, the Golden Globes, even BAFTA. His three most famous muses are Diane Keaton, Mia Farrow, and as of late Scarlett Johansson. While they’ve worked most consistently with Allen, it’s his infrequent leading ladies and supporting actresses that have always left stronger impressions on me. These women are not usually associated as Woody Allen actresses to the casual film goer, but their work with him is career defining.
- Mira Sorvino as Linda Ash. .Penelope Cruz as the nightmare ex-wife, Marie Elaina
Take, for example, Mira Sorvino and Penelope Cruz, two freshmen actresses with Allen, both winning the Supporting Actress category. Both won for portraying extremely flamboyant, yet equally powerful women, Sorvino as a prostitute in Mighty Aphrodite and Cruz for the unstable ex-wife of Javier Bardem in Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Although they weren’t the main characters (neither one really even appears in the movie till about the half way point) their performances are what made the films work and certainly what everyone was talking about when they left the theater. An even more interesting example is Samantha Morton, who plays a mute laundress in Sweet and Lowdown, her suttle smiles and nods and wanton looks earned her her first Oscar nomination without having to say a word.
Washed up actress Helen Sinclaire woos John Cusack
There are several actresses who appear frequently in Allen’s work, but almost exclusively as supporting characters. The actress who’s won the most Oscars for doing this would be Dianne Wiest. Her first Oscar was for playing Holly, one of the titular characters in Hannah and Her Sisters. Holly is a mess, easily the weakest and most fragile member of her family. Her confidence shattered by a history of drugs, she is constantly coddled by her sisters, Lee and Hannah. She unsuccessfully navigates the job market (caterer, actress, singer) and the book she happily finishes offends her sisters. Her optimism pays off in the end with a hit stageplay and husband. Wiest’s other Oscar was for the Norma Desmond-esque Helen Sinclaire from Bullets Over Broadway. Helen isn’t an especially deep character, but Wiest steals every scene she’s in as the narcissistic has-been lush. ( Jennifer Tilly was also nominated for that film as Olive, the no talent mafia gun moll required to be in the play within the movie.) Dianne Wiest also also appeared in The Purple Rose of Cairo, Radio Days, and September. In those, she plays mostly a lonely type, recently hurt and looking for love in all the wrong places.
Lucy (Davis) verbally, then physically, assaults Woody Allen
Probably my favorite actress to appear in Allen’s work is Judy Davis. She has a small role in Alice, as Joe Mantegna’s ex-wife, but really takes off with her strong supporting roles in Husbands and Wives, Celebrity, and Deconstructing Harry. She pretty much acts as the complete female equivalent to Woody Allen’s hyper neurotic self obsessed character. There’s a great scene in Deconstructing Harry where she storms into Woody Allen’s appartment and lets fly a hilarious series of profanity laden insults. It’s a really funny scene, but it’s pretty much the first time we meet Woody Allen’s character, so Judy Davis’ intense rampage lays the groundwork for how we expect others in the film to think about the Allen role. In Celebrity, Davis plays Robin, a meek teacher when her husband leaves her in the beginning of the film. The separation triggers a Fellinni-esque journey for both Robin and her husband (played by Kenneth Branagh) through the web of celebrity wierdos in New York, Robin inevitably ending up stronger than her fame chasing husband could ever hope to be. Husbands and Wives finds Davis playing pretty much the same neurotic character she plays in all Woody Allen’s work. Davis is Sally, a woman who makes a deal with her husband (Sidney Pollock) to get divorced, both thinking they will prefer living different lives, an idea that disturbs and secretly intrigues their married friends (Mia Farrow and Allen). The film more or less splits into two films at this point, a comedy and a drama, the husbands’ adventures play as the comedy while the wive’s section is the more dramatic, as the decisions are essentially left for them to decide.
Dianne Wiest and Judy Davis play two important female types essential to the Woody Allen universe, where women usually hold all the cards, playing the game for the men. Allen’s world holds basically two types of male characters: the Woody Allen model (the schlemiel, I’ve heard it called) and the guilt ridden murderer (e.g. Martin Landau in Crimes and Misdemeanors, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers in Match Point) which makes you realize how diverse the women characters get. Wiest and Davis act out very different characters than Farrow or Keaton. Farrow the mousy woman who longs for change but doesn’t know it, Keaton the cooky woman who leaves an everlasting imprint on the schlemiel.
Ullman plays Frenchy, desperately trying to give herself some class
In the late nineties, Woody Allen made Small Time Crooks, where he is a recently parolled, extremely inept thief. His wife, Frenchy (played by Tracey Ullman), reluctantly goes along with his scheme to tunnel into a bank from thier front business as a cookie store. Ullman plays yet another different type of woman. As the cookies become more profitable than the bank robbery, the tide of power shifts and she becomes the money maker which awakens an unexpected urge in her to pair her new riches with cultivation. Ullman is the most respected comedienne in Europe and in Small Time Crooks we are treated not only to her performance, but also a rare performance by Elaine May, best known as the other half of Mike Nichols. While Elaine May doesn’t have many scenes to work with, she really comes off as a fascinating side character- Frenchy’s cousin who’s too brain dead to realize that Woody Allen is drilling tunnels in the basement of the cookie store.
While none of these women were ever considered Allen’s muse, they make up probably the largest section of great characters he’s created. His famous muses seem to get stuck playing the same type of character over and over again, pretty much leaving it to these supporting actresses to explore the fertile soil of a Woody Allen script, drawing out a (sometimes) more memorable role than that of the main characters.
Mar
26
Cinephiles boil down into two different types of people: those that love Bond films and those who are indifferent to them. I love them and aside from a few duds (You Only Live Twice, A View To A Kill) they have all been good, a few being great (On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, The Spy Who Loved Me, Goldfinger). Either way, they have all felt like part of the same family, they have Q, Moneypenney, entendres (double and sometimes triple), a killer Bond girl, gadgets, cars, a villain that you love to hate, and M- always shaking his or her head at Bond’s unconventional methods. Only until last year did we get a Bond film that seemed to be cut from a different mold, to come from a completely different universe. In Quantum of Solace, they threw away everything from the above list, save for M, shaking her head and talking more than the character of M has in all of the films (even compared to The World Is Not Enough, where her kidnapping is essential to the plot).
even the poster is uninspiring
To be fair, there is a car, but it’s something like a Mazda Tribute… my friend has one of those and I drove it across the country recently, but that didn’t make me feel I’m more like Bond, it made me feel he’s more like me – a sentiment that has depressing implications. If you can’t go to an action film, let alone a Bond film, and feel as though you’ve completely escaped from reality, whats the point of going? Sure, Quantum had explosions and action sequences only possible with James Bond’s involvement, but the girl, the villain, and his plot were so ridiculously dull. If controlling the Bolivian water supply, with intent on taxing it slightly higher than previously taxed is all we have left for a villain’s plot, then they should just stop making Bond films. If Bond cannot/will not/doesn’t have the time to sleep with his leading lady, then why go to the trouble of casting an attractive woman? Just cast Janeane Garofalo. If the only gadgets available to him are things you or I could pick up at Target, then just do away with Q (oh, it appears they already have…). Quantum of Solace, in short, gave us the worst incarnation of James Bond to date, he isn’t suave, he has nothing in particular on his mind, he fumbles almost every move he makes, has no wit or tact, and apparently has no interest in the girl. The film was an assault on escapism, and this franchise isn’t the only one straying from it’s roots.
The assumption that modern audiences are too sophisticated for over the top, occassionally campy action films is absolutely wrong, and an idea I blame on Joel Schumacher, director of the last two pre-Christian Bale Batman films. Batman and Robin, while admittedly over the top and campy, especially turned the tables on escapist cinema.
The Culprits!
As a result of such frivolities as a cgi Gotham, an Adam West-ish Batman portrayal, and nipples on the batsuits, Warner Brothers was forced to clear the slate and produce a rebooted version of the franchise. In this new universe of Batman, the villians don’t have to wear costumes, plots must be unnervingly complicated, and Batman must use a near comical voice to mask the fact that he is Bruce Wayne (ignoring the action film staple of suspension of disbelief). They used Chicago as Gotham, doing away with the mood created by something like Tim Burton’s sound stage mock up. (For the record, Gotham is not a place I should actually be able to visit, just a place I want to be able to visit.)
It seems everyone wants to re-create the Bourne universe, a spy franchise which banks on it’s realism, which is fine because it’s the Bourne universe. (The Die Hard franchise is the one exception – in a complete reversal of trend, it started out seeming possible and by the fourth one Bruce Willis is driving cars down elevator shafts and challenging stealth planes to interstate duels.) The Simpsons, always ahead of it’s time, lampooned this phenomenon perfectly in an episode where people go to see the new Star Wars prequel, expecting an action film, but instead getting 2 1/2 hours of a galactic senate version of cspan. But I don’t want James Bond or Batman to exist in that universe. Batman is a comic book character and no matter how hard they try to make me identify with him, there will always be a scene where a man dressed like a bat fights someone dressed like a clown or a scarecrow or a cat, completely demolishing any thread to reality. And Bond should never be without a witty comeback or a villain to set him up for one. He should always have a scene where Q gives him gadgets and in the background see even more fantastic technology Q isn’t so forthcoming with. If Batman and Robin be the point where everyone steps back and says to themselves, “Wow, this is too ridiculous!” then Quantum of Solace must be the point where people stop and realize that Escapism is the element that we, as a culture, relate to most. That we cannot do what Bond or Batman does, but dreaming that we can is why we really leave a theater satisfied.
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