I’m awesome. I wrote a book. It’s got little to do with movies. Download and read “Thank You, Goodnight” right HERE for free.
I guess I don’t get it. I don’t get Zach.
One of the stories that broke this week is that comedic star of the small screen, Zach Galifianakis, has just been signed to play in Todd Phillips’ latest flick, THE HANGOVER. Now, whether anyone can point a finger at his turn in Ashton Kutcher’s WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS and use it as proof that this “comedian” would just as soon sell his soul to a Cameron Diaz/Kutcher production in order to make the rent there does seem to be something to Phillips’ use of Zach. The guy is something different and his brand of humor borders on the Kaufman-esque.
For one, and I know I am not the only one, there definitely seems to be a need for many to have the stench of SCHOOL FOR SCOUNDRELS washed from their mouths as the rank taste has left many wondering what was left for this director who parlayed his goodwill for OLD SCHOOL and ROAD TRIP into paychecks for the betterment of his own wallet. Could this director get himself a movie actually worth getting excited over again? I’m not sure, again, STARSKY AND HUTCH showed he could do broad comedy but that’s exactly what it felt like, broad. He hasn’t impressed anyone with anything he’s done since being involved behind the lens for BORAT, and even that how much would any of you say was the writing versus the performance Sacha Baron Cohen gave? Yeah, exactly.
So, you have a director who has cashed in and cashed out and an actor who has been around for years but who no one else knows besides you or I. I believe this is what Todd needs, a break from his usual fare and an opportunity to show that Judd Apatow isn’t the only one in this town who can make a comedy. Although, judging by Apatow’s output Todd has a few more to make to even catch up.
In other, less acerbic news, I learned about this charity auction that is going on as we speak. It’s a chance to spend a day on the set of IRON MAN II: ELECTRIC BUGABOO with Robert Downey Jr.. Now, I wouldn’t normally find these sorts of things very interesting or newsworthy enough to send out to y’all but somehow this sounds like a rare opportunity to see exactly what Favreau’s going to be doing with the second part of what was, really, one of the best summer movies this year. A lot has been made of Marvel’s obstinate dealings with the man made them more than a few bucks and, even more, them declaring a release date before production was even started. It’s a one-two punch of not the greatest ways to begin a film that has more than a few things going for it. It showed people Robert Downey Jr. still is one of the best actors working today, that Gweneth Paltrow isn’t a shrill shrew who obviously can stop using her faux British accent whenever she pleases, that Favreau knows how practical effects can trump green screen when used properly and, the one thing a lot of suits understand, it made wheelbarrows of cash for the studio.
With everything surrounding the bizzare circumstances surrounding the negotiations to get Favreau back on board with a grin there is a lot I’m interested to know, from a fanboy perspective, of how he’s working under the pressure to meet the time line hurdles he’s no doubt going to have to overcome. I wish I had a few thousand to spend on an experience to not only josh around with the man who wears a goatee better than any dude has a right to but to get the inside line about where things are going to go from here.
If you have the cash, spend it. Then let me know what you find out.
Now, before I get right into it I wanted to make note that Ray Schillaci is back once again for one of his WORTH REVISITING rants. This time he’s back with a movie even I haven’t seen, CATCH-22, and explains why I should man up and put it into my queue. It’s good to have him back and, hopefully, if any of you have thoughts about this film you sound-off below and tell me why I need, or don’t need, to rush and see it.
IN SEARCH OF A MIDNIGHT KISS (2008)
Director: Alex Holdridge
Cast: Scoot McNairy, Sara Simmonds, Brian Matthew McGuire, Katy Luong, Bret Roberts
Release: Now Playing
Synopsis: From emerging, award-winning filmmaker Alex Holdridge and the producer of BEFORE SUNRISE and DAZED AND CONFUSED, IN SEARCH OF A MIDNIGHT KISS is a funny and bittersweet look at love, sex, and modern romance. With an unsold script, no concrete plans, and a love life reduced to getting caught in compromising positions (alone!), a twenty-nine-year aspiring writer, Wilson (Scoot McNairy) just had the worst year of his life. That is until his best friend, Jacob (Brian Matthew McGuire), browbeats him into posting a personal ad for New Year’s Eve on Craig’s List. When Vivian (Sara Simmonds), a sexy, sarcastic, and seemingly blind-date-from-hell responds, the two strangers embark on an unexpected, chaotic, and hilariously awkward journey through the black-and-white streets of Los Angeles hoping to meet the right one before the stroke of midnight. A truly original love letter to Los Angeles, IN SEARCH OF A MIDNIGHT KISS captures a lost downtown rarely seen on screen along with the hearts of critics and audiences alike.
View Trailer:
* Large (Moviefone)
Prognosis: Positive. Do any of you know how much I love romantic movies?
I’m a fan of romance. Now, that doesn’t mean I enjoy the stylings of Matthew McConaughey and whatever flick he decides to doff his top in but I am more of a SINGLES kind of enjoyer when it comes to stories that try and deal with what it’s like to fall in love or at least of what it’s like to try. You can absolutely go wrong in so many regards to how unbelievable you make the character or what it’s actually like to try and distill the reality of frustration and pain you go through to find the one you end up with. SWINGERS and ONCE did this masterfully and when I see a trailer like this I am reminded that these bubblegum pop songs cum movies are still alive and well.
The trailer starts off thoughtfully enough. It sets up, what seems like, something completely unrelated to the film itself. It talks about the midnight kiss that two people give each other at the stroke of midnight. The music, the composition of the scenes, is well done and, like I mentioned, it seems unrelated to the narrative. Things come back to the moment at hand, however, as we are introduced to the man looking for love and his goofy ass friend.
“You’re gonna have 14 year-olds calling you, you’re going to have grandmas calling you…â€
What seems to be at issue, then, is the pensive, introspective man who doesn’t want anything more than to just die in a small hole is somehow roped in to placing a personal ad on Craig’s List. Sure, it seems outrageous but so did what Debbie did in SINGLES when she threw herself into a video dating service.
What differentiates this trailer, and this story, from the others is that the guy seems well intentioned enough that he’s willing expose himself to the outside world in that he’s looking for a date for new year’s while completely understanding how bizarre and sad it is to be doing such a thing on-line.
So, the narrative moves forward after he gets a phone call. The shot of nothing but a pair of wet lips and the sounds of a woman who we don’t see interests me. The self-labeled misanthrope prepares for a date with this mystery woman and it’s endearing in a way. His jackass friend, and you have to have an obnoxious foil in there somewhere if you want to keep this kind of film from going too deep with emotion, is actually funny when he opens his fist as he drives his buddy to his date and reveals a mound of condoms. The misanthrope’s shock is worth the price of admission into this trailer.
Also, big ups to the music that’s embedded into this thing. It serves as a sweet frame around which everything takes place. It’s accurately chosen and it doesn’t take away from my riveted interest in seeing what is going to happen next.
What happens next is that we meet the woman who will end up with us for the rest of the movie and, save for a little pretentiousness that eeks out slightly on the screen, she seems like a nice lady. When the girl mentions she’s looking for true love on this night of nights, and you think that this could be straying too far into the artsy fartsy realm, we’re pulled back by misanthrope who questions using Craig’s List for such a thing.
We’re given a pull quote from LA Weekly and it honestly helps ballast my expectations a little higher. Toss in a few more moments of these kids getting to know one another and add in 4 other quotable reviews, mix in a nice jingly jangly acoustic number that is wickedly pleasant to listen to, and you’ve got yourself a winner.
But wait, there’s more!
This crazy lady’s ex-boyfriend threatens to burn all her things which sets in motion this frantic moment where these two budding lovebirds scramble to save some possessions from a relationship pyre. It’s chaotic but funny.
Near the end, the twinkling music that chimes in as the two of them are locked in traffic at the stroke of midnight is too perfect as we have an honest to goodness moment that should trigger something within you that says this is a movie which deserves to be seen.
Director: John Wright
Cast: Robert Downey, Jr., Jamie Foxx, Catherine Keener, Rachael Harris
Release: November 21, 2008
Synopsis: In “The Soloist,†an emotionally soaring drama about lost dreams and the redemptive power of music, journalist Steve Lopez (Oscar® nominee Robert Downey Jr.) discovers Nathaniel Anthony Ayers (Oscar® winner Jamie Foxx), a former classical music prodigy, playing his violin on the streets of L.A. As Lopez endeavors to help the homeless man find his way back, a unique friendship is formed, one that transforms both their lives. “The Soloist†is directed by Joe Wright Golden Globe winner for Best Drama and Oscar® nominee for Best Picture “Atonement.
View Trailer:
* Large (QuickTime)
Prognosis: Positive-ish. Let’s just toss this out there before anyone else has a chance to do it: Is Jamie Foxx (The Second X Is For eXcitement) going full retard in this film?
Yeah, it’ll be something that I think will inexorably follow any Robert Downey Jr. movie from here on out but I already have a feeling this expression has been played out. Regardless, though, there is something else that has chaffed me the wrong way in between the time we’ve all watched TROPIC THUNDER and IRON MAN and it has everything to do with this article that Rolling Stone did with Downey just last month. Besides the author collapsing under his own self-love of the prose coming out of his fingers the odd profile piece seems like it’s something better suited for a post-modern academic journal about dissociative disorders than it is an interview; seriously, for fuck’s sake, Downey seems just as pleased to be the master of obfuscation than actually giving a straight answer on anything. It’s Exhibit A why I don’t think I would enjoy the trappings of interviewing A list celebrities. Give me blue-collar actors any day of the week.
However, when it comes to Downey’s work as of late the man is just unstoppable. I think that if I did have any issue with how this new trailer starts is that it seems incapable of having any narrative flow. You have Downey riding his bike and then, next thing you know, he’s wiping out. The whole thing feels like a poor editing job and it’s disjointed on top of that.
I get that he’s a writer looking for some kind of inspiration and a little “ha ha†funny moment where we see him picking his words for a future column I guess is a little humanizing. Seriously, this does nothing more than wonder if this is going to be another down-on-his-luck writer (possibly afflicted with some kind of alcohol or drug problem, no less. Maybe he’s a male prostitute) who needs to find THE story that will lift his spirit and get him off the sauce.
Enter Jamie Foxx. Enter This is about the time when we get the “Higher Ground†Stevie Wonder cover version on a shiatty violin. Somehow of all the street performers in the world this one catches his ear. Regardless of why that’s the case we’re now supposed to buy into the idea that this guy captures Downey’s heart strings, awww, and prompts him to buy this street performer a new violin for reasons we’re not really privy to.
As a journalist he digs deeper, Downey finding out this prodigy of the woodwinds is crazy as a box of fruit loops.
We get some clue as to this guy’s craziness from what we’re given: Foxx asking Downey if he’s the pilot of a plane that’s passing in the sky, him making calls in phone booth with no shoes, him employing some retard strength as he turns on Downey and gets ready to give him a piece of his knuckle sandwich and a couple of other moments that scream, “Please, Academy, witness my greatness!â€
Shameless pandering aside we do get a moment that feels genuinely tender. With a delicate violin solo and the announcement that this is coming to us from the director of ATONEMENT there are some rather evocative moments that surprise even me.
In a world slathered in crazy comes a guy who talks to the air, punches anyone who he short circuits around and just happens to be masterful in the one thing that separates him from any other crazy person that doesn’t get a movie made about them.
I think I really respond to Downey playing the part of friend who says the embarrassingly sappy lines of “We look after each other†or “I’m the closest thing to family he has.†It really reeks of the kind of bombast that is usually reserved for pabulum like this. However, how deep the superficiality goes or how maudlin things get is really up to Downey and Foxx (Where The X Stands For eXtreme!) to see how much retard they’ve imbued these characters with.
###
WORTH REVISITING: CATCH-22
Catch the Catch by Ray Schillaci
Of all the movies about war, whether it be Vietnam, Gulf War, WW II, even to go as far as to affiliate Braveheart or 300 in that category, there are ten that I could recommend. Perhaps a handful of them would leave you feeling both exhausted and exhilarated for their cinematic style and story telling. But there may be only one that that takes you beyond the edge and pushes you off while putting you through a whirlwind of emotions. Love it, hate it, one cannot deny the brilliance, not only of story, but casting and direction that is picture perfect. Yet, it is far from recognized getting lost in the shuffle of Apocalypse Now, Deer Hunter and Platoon. It even was lost during its opening having to compete with a far more digestible war piece, “M.A.S.H.†The reason; it makes you think and generally people would rather escape than struggle with their mind. “Catch-22†not only makes you struggle but also has you contemplating far after several viewings.
Catch-22 is of all things a black comedy about the horrors of war and one man trying to escape them while others wallow in its profiteering, bathe in its depravity and snap (and literally break apart) under the unfathomable duress. Sound like fun? Think about it; what movie executive in his right mind would green light a project like this. Of course, this was done in the 70’s when filmmakers were allowed to have a voice and not be pressured into franchises, monopolies, and toy manufacturing. It’s a time when Coppola had not yet fried his brain and a young Spielberg was interested in story as well as technique.
This anti-war satire of epic proportions was ripped from the pages of a harrowing novel written by Joseph Heller. The book had people talking and the idea of turning it into a movie was as insane as the premise of the story itself. Paramount probably only gave it the go ahead because of the dedicated talent that was willing to tackle this behemoth of a story and to compete with 20th Century Fox’s broader appeal war project in the works, M.A.S.H.
Paramount thought they had something going on when they signed the winning team of Mike Nichols and Buck Henry fresh from “The Graduate†to handle the delicate balance of laughs, drama and horror of the amazing novel. They were able to land a cavalcade of stars that were all in their acting prime; Alan Arkin, Martin Balsam, Richard Benjamin, Jack Gilford, Buck Henry, Bob Newhart, Anthony Perkins (yes, Norman Bates!), Paula Prentiss (and showing full frontal – how the heck did they manage that?), Martin Sheen, John Voight…I know what you’re thinking – does it ever end? No, they actually topped it off with the talents of Orson Welles and the unusual Art Garfunkel (yes, from Simon and Garfunkel – “Mrs. Robinson†fame). Normally this would be a film executive’s wet dream watching these talents woo the dollars into the box office. But no one anticipated the brilliant film team of Nichols and Henry to dive into the book and venture beyond the challenge not seeming to care who they may offend, repulse or leave in a quandary.
This was the studio’s goose egg and a film connoisseur’s dream. They had taken the story of a small group of flyers in the Mediterranean in 1944 and placed before us winners, losers, opportunists and survivors. They displayed the frightened, profane, pathetic and very nervous edge that accompanied those participating in such folly. Of course, this was just coming off the heels of the age of love, not war, and these love children wanted to make sure if you walked into that theater you would never forget and probably think twice before enlisting (I know, not very patriotic). They were of a time when so many young people felt there had to be another way to handle disagreeing fractions peacefully rather than have old men beyond their prime sending out young, lower and middle class, men to slaughter for the illusion of freedom.
Some may find the movie hard to follow, especially with so many flashbacks and dream sequences, but it all ties together in the end and is probably one of the most defining films of that period. Nichols gives us images that stick to our mind; Alan Arkin sitting naked in a tree, refusing to put on his uniform for fear of flying again. There are officers running through routines like Abbott and Costello while their landscape is being blown to shit. Guts spilling, people literally cut in half and blow jobs in back alleys have one in shock that mainstream cinema was allowed to go this far back then. It just shows you how backward and infantile we have become. Do not get me wrong; none of this is for exploitation. The images as a whole lash out a statement that puts Kubrick’s “Full Metal Jacket†to shame.
Once again, this is not an easy one to find. But it may be worth adding to your collection since it can be purchased for less than $10. Just the cast alone is worth that. Warning this is not for wives or girlfriends (unless they are very hip and don’t mind putting themselves through the wringer). This is a thinking guy’s movie. So, those who like their war movies dummied up with little dialogue, lotsa gore and far less story – rent “Rambo, the Fight Continues†– it’s as original as it’s title. But I do admit it’s a guilty pleasure when I’m in a red neck mood.
Comments: None
Leave a Reply |