Whatever It Is, I'm Against It!

A few weeks ago, I reacquainted myself with the films of the Marx Brothers. I hadn't watched them in about a decade and as they proceeded to leave me in paroxysms of laughter, I wondered why I waited so long. I had planned to write a post about Groucho, Harpo, Chico and Zeppo but it's difficult to articulate what makes them so utterly charming and effortlessly funny. So instead, I spent this evening grabbing some clips from YouTube that will hopefully do the work for me. If you like what you see below, please go rent or buy Monkey Business and Duck Soup, two excellent starting points for this team that produced the kind of laughs they just don't make anymore.

Homeland or death!

The roadshow version of Che finally arrived in Montreal, and to be sure, four and a half hours in a movie theater (including intermission) is a test for any moviegoer. But when it’s a dense, Spanish language film about revolutionary politics and guerilla warfare, the film demands a certain dedication. But not only does director Steven Soderbergh reward the audience for sticking with him through his riveting film, he has created one of the most intriguing portraits of a political figure in recent memory.

Part One of the film covers the intial meeting of Guevara and Fidel Castro, the roots of the Cuban revolution and the gradual taking of the entire country. Spliced into the story, is a narrative covering Guevara’s interview by CBS reporter Lisa Howard, his 1964 visit to New York City and speech to the United Nations. At first, the connection between the stories isn’t quite apparent, but what emerges is a study of contrasts. Soderbergh’s film instead of being a straight biography of Che Guevara, uses the figure to investigate where ideological and political warfare intersect and separate. As we watch Guevara gradually construct an army built from peasants, introduce reading and writing in makeshift camps and bring medical care to those who’ve never had it, we are blunted by this same man in military fatigues in swanky Manhattan apartments being asked for autographs and having his photo taken. And as Guevara speaks to the UN, it becomes apparent that the direct actions that are perhaps required in a third world nation, are not easily rationalized to an audience of first world politicians where warfare is conducted in meetings and handshakes.

While Castro transitioned easily from revolutionary to politician, Guevara’s ideals still drove him, and Part Two finds him in the jungles of Bolivia bringing the ideals forged in Cuba to a new struggle for independence. But more than a decade has passed, and the United States in the thick of Vietnam and an emerging Cold War have become more active in quashing unfriendly movements and anything perceived as being communist. The Bolivian government’s response to rumors of Guevara organizing in the countryside isn’t an ideological affront, but rather politically calculating. They engage US intelligence, spread propaganda and initially deny the presence of Guevara at all. Meanwhile, Guevara sticks to his methods used earlier in Cuba but finds loyalty harder to earn, discipline lacking, peasants more fearful and stigmatization because of his foreign status.

What emerges is a complex portrait of a man that Soderbergh bravely decides not to pass judgment on in either direction. Guevara is neither idolized nor pilloried, instead it’s only the results of his actions that are depicted. We see a man committed to educating his people and creating a society based on communal resources and values. However, we also see a man who at times is so stubbornly committed to his political vision, that he is blinded to their consequences which are more often than not, tragic.

Many have criticized Che for skipping over key parts of Guevara’s life or not being more critical about the blood on his hands, however, Soderbergh is wise in not trying to summarize a life that has become mythic in stature. Che is an ideological sketch of a man who struggled between his political, guerilla and humanitarian beliefs right up until his death.

Teasing An Embrace

The thirty second teaser for my fifth most anticipated film of the year is now online, and it looks absolutely gorgeous. Watch it here.

If I Picked The Winners

Well, the Oscars are now a few days away so here are my predictions along with who I would pick to win, nominated or not. And yes, the title of this post is an homage to the great Siskel & Ebert Oscar special If We Picked The Winners that I used to watch religiously every year.

Performance by an actor in a leading role

Richard Jenkins in The Visitor
Frank Langella in Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn in Milk
Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler

Prediction: Mickey Rourke
Who Should Win: Mickey Rourke

Firstly, kudos to the Academy for recognizing Richard Jenkins for his graceful work in The Visitor. It's great to see such a consistent character actor get recognized, especially for a film without a megabucks marketing campaign behind it. However, no other performance this year was as deeply felt or wrenchingly moving as Rourke’s turn as a wrestler on his last legs. With his career revitalizing turn, Rourke proves there are few actors working today who can exude such raw masculinity and aching vulnerability at the same time, the way he does here. Hopefully he’ll stay clean, make some smart choices and finally live up to the promise that has only been hinted at for much of his career.

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

Josh Brolin in Milk
Robert Downey Jr. in Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman in Doubt
Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight
Michael Shannon in Revolutionary Road

Prediction: Heath Ledger
Who Should Win: Heath Ledger
Who Should’ve Been Nominated: Bill Irwin in Rachel Getting Married

There is no doubt that Heath Ledger’s incarnation of the gleefully psychotic Joker was the performance of the year. However, the Academy should’ve honored Bill Irwin with a nomination for his fantastic work in Rachel Getting Married, instead of rewarding Robert Downey Jr. for his funny, if somewhat one-dimensional turn in the otherwise tepid Tropic Thunder.

Performance by an actress in a leading role

Anne Hathaway in Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie in Changeling
Melissa Leo in Frozen River
Meryl Streep in Doubt
Kate Winslet in The Reader

Prediction: Kate Winslet
Who Should Win: Meryl Streep

You’ve got to hand it to Harvey Weinstein. The man can Oscar campaign like no one else, and what he has done with the critically shrugged Holocaust melodrama The Reader is remarkable. The biggest beneficiary has been Kate Winslet who has won a surprising number of nominations for her role in the film. I haven’t seen the film, but I have no doubt Winslet is fine in it, but really, for a film that critics have been holding at arms length, it’s been purely positioning and glad handing that have gotten the film this far. Streep, who has been nominated for an Oscar a staggering fifteen times and won twice, is loved by the Academy but taken for granted for exactly the kind of work she does in Doubt. There is a pivotal moment in the final minutes of Doubt in which Streep does the kind of acting that is a shocking reminder of just how great she can be. What she does with her character in those moments is so perfectly executed, it completely shapes the outcome of the entire film, and is a reminder of why she is one of the greatest actresses’ of her generation.

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

Amy Adams in Doubt
Penélope Cruz in Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis in Doubt
Taraji P. Henson in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei in The Wrestler

Prediction: Penelope Cruz
Who Should Win: Penelope Cruz

Penelope Cruz only enters Vicky Cristina Barcelona about halfway through the film, but when she does, she’s a tornado of fiery emotion. Playing Javier Bardem’s volatile ex-wife, it’s Cruz who brings Woody Allen’s vision full circle with a performance that edges her character with a flinty vulnerability. Yes, it’s a showy performance, but it’s honest and is crucial to holding the thematic arc of the film together.

Achievement in cinematography

Tom Stern for Changeling
Claudio Miranda for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Wally Pfister for The Dark Knight
Chris Menges and Roger Deakins for The Reader
Anthony Dod Mantle for Slumdog Millionaire

Prediction: Wally Pfister
Who Should Win: Javier Aguirresarobe for Vicky Cristina Barcelona

There is no doubt that Wally Pfister’s work on The Dark Knight was nothing short of breathtaking. Using Chicago as a stand-in for Gotham City, Pfister created some truly dazzling scenes, particularly during the IMAX sequences that completely brought a new angle to metropolitan based crime dramas. However, nothing affected me as greatly this year as Javier Aguirresrobe’s work on Vicky Cristina Barcelona. His honey colored scenes of Barcelona and rural towns were awe-inspiring, dreamlike and utterly gorgeous, making it quite understandable to see how the two transplanted Americans could so easily be charmed by the Spanish countryside.

Achievement in directing

David Fincher for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard for Frost/Nixon
Gus Van Sant for Milk
Stephen Daldry for The Reader
Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire

Prediction: Danny Boyle
Who Should Win: Darren Aronofsky for The Wrestler

No other director this year made such a stylistic 180 as Darren Aronofsky. Usually known for his highly visual, individual work, The Wrestler, found Aronofsky borrowing a page from the Dardennes brothers and going for a simple handheld, observational style. The result allowed Rourke’s extraordinary performance to really shine, as well as create a remarkably intimate connection between the audience and the characters. With The Wrestler, Aronofsky reveals himself as an evolving, maturing director.

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)

Alexandre Desplat for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
James Newton Howard for Defiance
Danny Elfman for Milk
A.R. Rahman for Slumdog Millionaire
Thomas Newman for WALL-E

Prediction: Alexandre Desplat
Who Should Win: Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard for The Dark Knight

Though I think Alexandre Desplat is one of the best contemporary film composers working today, his score The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button is not his best stuff. On the other hand, James Newton Howard has had some good pieces here and there (his work on Signs is a stand out for me), but he truly surprised me with the collaborative compositions put together with Hans Zimmer for The Dark Knight. I can’t recall the last time a mainstream, blockbuster film so readily made use of something so avant garde as “A Little Push” for a character signal. However, that one brief piece of music used for the Joker added a dimension of unease to Ledger’s already magnetically terrifying performance. It’s no surprise that after the Academy’s embarrassing infighting regarding the duo’s eligibility for Oscar consideration that they ultimately weren’t nominated, but they should be recognized for daring to push mainstream film composition in interesting new directions.

Best motion picture of the year

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

Prediction: Slumdog Millionaire
Who Should Win: Vicky Cristina Barcelona

No surprise here. Vicky Cristina Barcelona was my favorite film of last year, and if it were up to me I’d give it an Oscar too. But something tells me that Woody Allen, who is by choice not an Academy member and has stated having no interest in the awards, is happy to continue working without being bothered by the momentary glam and glitz of Hollywood’s biggest night.

Top Ten Films of 2008

After some delay, here are my picks for the top ten films of 2008. Stay tuned for my Oscar predictions and picks later in the week.

10. Rachel Getting Married (Jonathan Demme)



Jenny Lumet, daughter of legendary filmmaker Sidney Lumet, delivers a knockout with her first produced screenplay. Directed in an immersive, handheld style by Jonathan Demme, Rachel Getting Married spends a weekend with recovering addict Kym as she deals with the wounds that are re-opened when the entire family reunites at home for her sister's wedding. While Anne Hathaway has deservedly earned an Oscar nomination for her performance, Bill Irwin, as I wrote earlier, is just as integral to the film’s emotional power. Raw and unaffected, Rachel Getting Married is an uncompromising look at a family where healing will be a lifelong process.

9. Be Kind Rewind (Michel Gondry)



Last year, joke newspaper The Onion ran a hilarious article with the headline: Michel Gondry Entertained For Days By New Cardboard Box. For anyone remotely familiar with Gondry’s work, the piece struck a chord as it probably isn’t too far from the truth. In his extensive and groundbreaking music video work, and in such films as The Science Of Sleep and Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, Gondry has displayed a passion for homemade (though not necessarily well made) special effects, over computer generated glitz, and childlike wonder and sincerity over contrived or manipulative emotions. Critics unfairly maligned Be Kind Rewind for it’s “unbelievable” premise - an entire video store has their VHS tapes erased and the staff sets out to make their own versions of the films to rent to customers – while missing Gondry’s joyous, heartfelt comedy that celebrates imagination, ingenuity and cinema itself. When so many comedies these days rely on cheap or crude humor for laughs, Gondry’s film derives them from the undistiilled joy of discovery and creation.

8. Pineapple Express (David Gordon Green)



If not raunchy, Pineapple Express, is certainly ridiculous and outrageously hilarious. Another Judd Apatow production, the film’s success is only all the more remarkable given the pedigree behind it. Who would’ve thought pretty boy and Gucci fragrance model James Franco would nail the role of a greasy, good-hearted, and eternally spaced out pot dealer so perfectly? Who would’ve thought indie filmmaker David Gordon Green, known for his tough southern gothic fare, would transition so effortlessly to a film that is an endless stream of stoner jokes and explosions? Falling somewhere between Lethal Weapon and Cheech & Chong, Pineapple Express is gut-bustingly funny, effortlessly charming and oddly affecting. It’s a stoner movie with heart, and an action movie for geeks.

7. Mister Lonely (Harmony Korine)



I’ve always regarded screenwriter and director Harmony Korine as little more than a provocateur. The man behind such films as Kids, Gummo and Julien Donkey-Boy gained notoriety for the salacious nature of his works, rather than the substance. On the surface, this film, about a bunch of celebrity impersonators who decide to live on a commune together to forever indulge their fantasy lives, certainly comes across as a stunt. But Korine’s film reveals a deep humanity, contemplating notions of identity and the importance of faith and art. A parallel story involving Werner Herzog playing a priest to a bunch of skydiving nuns is as hilarious and bizarre as it is heart-wrenching and affecting. Mister Lonely is a proudly odd and surprisingly life-affirming film that marks a new, mature direction for Harmony Korine.

6. Låt den rätte komma in/Let The Right One In (Tomas Alfredson)



While every teenage girl in America freaked out this fall over the vampire soap Twilight, a little film from Sweden completely reinvented the entire genre. Let The Right One In is an astonishingly gorgeous horror film that refuses to rely on gore and cheap scares but rather on mood and atmosphere. Director Tomas Alfredson is refreshingly spare behind the camera, abstaining from the kinetic camera movements and narrative spoonfeeding that mark so many horror films these days. Instead, Alfredson let’s the film unravel slowly, allowing the mystery and dread to build to a feverish pitch right until the jaw dropping conclusion. But it’s the surprisingly touching relationship at the film’s core between the two lead children that really stands this film out from the pack. Bonded by their outsider status, twelve-year-old Oskar and the undead Eli find a way, however deadly and strange, to make it through the trials that mark the passage into adolescence.

5. Wall-E (Andrew Stanton)



The term “kids movie” has become a catch all for every loud, obnoxious, dull and uninspired animated film that Hollywood cranks out on a quarterly basis for parents looking for two hours of respite from their exhausting children. Usually loaded with bad music and worse jokes, for parents, these films are not just watched, but endured with the small reward that the kids were entertained and stayed in one place for one hundred and twenty minutes. But as usual, Pixar offers a not only a beacon of hope for parents but a reason for everyone to get to the theater as quickly as possible. Wall-E is another masterful achievement from the studio that seems to get even better and more ambitious with each film. While their last film , Ratatouille, found a hero in a food obsessed rat, this time around, Pixar has the audacity to start the film with almost half an hour of gorgeous, funny and touching animation with nary a line of dialogue to be heard. This tremendous sequence, in which we learn about Wall-E, and his small, but rich life, would be virtually unheard of at any other studio. Who would allow a lead character not to speak? Or dedicate the opening of a film aimed at children not have any songs or fart jokes? In fact, the titular Wall-E – a lonely trash compactor, slowly cleaning up the mess left on a now uninhabited Earth – doesn’t really speak at all, relying a series of endearing bloops, bleeps and a word here and there to communicate what he’s feeling. Pixar succeeds in the task in not only making it easy for the audience to understand his motivations, but care deeply about what is going to happen to him. Like the great silent comedies, Wall-E finds it’s heart and humor using extraordinary physical sequences, and a script that really makes the audience care about what becomes Wall-E’s quest for love. In a lesser project, the film’s sledgehammer approach to its environmental message in the third act would’ve been distracting, but we care too much about Wall-E and Eve to notice, and unless you have a heart of stone, the end is guaranteed to make you shed a tear.

4. The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan)



The Dark Knight arrived in theaters on a wave of fanboy anticipation, built on Warner Brother’s brilliant, nearly year long marketing campaign and the buzz and tragedy surrounding Heath Ledger’s final performance as the Joker. When the film finally landed like an atom bomb last summer, not only did it meet expectations, it blew them right out of the water. Christopher Nolan’s take on Batman placed him in a real, living, breathing metropolis. Gone were the candy-coated worlds of previous Batman films. Here was Gotham presented as any other major city in the world, which made the absolutely anarchic inclinations of the Joker all the more terrifying. The Dark Knight presents the most conflicted Batman/Bruce Wayne yet, forced between protecting the citizens of Gotham (who increasingly resent his presence) and creating a life that he can live publicly and be proud of. And in the Joker, with all respect to Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger delivered the signature performance of Batman’s ultimate villain with an unstable mix of unpredictable lunacy and passionate nihilism that made him both compelling and horrifying to watch on screen. The total of Nolan’s film isn’t your typical spandex and special effects comic book film, but something much richer. Drawing on sophisticated crime dramas, and heightened by the immersive experience of IMAX, The Dark Knight is a comic book film for adults, that explores where the boundaries between good and evil and hero and villain intersect.

3. Paranoid Park (Gus Van Sant)



While Gus Van Sant’s other film this year, Milk, is garnering all the awards season attention, it’s Paranoid Park that deserves the recognition. Falling in with his other more experimental films such as Last Days and Elephant, Paranoid Park uses the Macguffin of a murder mystery to explore the angst of a teenager trying finding his niche in the world. By turns funny, shocking, sensual and heartbreaking, Paranoid Park perfectly captures the feeling of disconnection of adolescence. Employing shot repetition, graceful tracking shots, judiciously employed slow motion and jaw dropping framing, Van Sant’s film is like a dream happening in a real life.

2. The Wrestler (Darren Aronofsky)



Randy “The Ram” Robinson is beat up, worn out and at the end of his career. Mickey Rourke, who plays The Ram, is also beat up, worn out and when this began filming, was also at the end of anything resembling an acting career, having alienated much of Hollywood. The result is a bravura performance from Rourke, reminding audiences why they were charmed with him the first time he gained acclaim on the silver screen. From director Darren Aronofsky, known for his heady, visually arresting films such as Requiem For A Dream and The Fountain, he’s stripped down, largely using a handheld, creating a quasi-documentary feel for the film. And what a film it is. Robinson’s journey as he makes peace with his past and what drives his very existence is at once heart breaking and life affirming. It’s a film that doesn’t demand much from its audience but proves to be far richer than the wrestling rings, strip clubs, grocery stores and bars it inhabits.

1. Vicky Cristina Barcelona (Woody Allen)



As New York’s longtime cinematic chronicler, it’s hard to imagine Woody Allen in another city, let alone another country. But movies need money, and as Allen continues to keep to his one film per year pace, well into the latter part of his career, European producers have opened their coffers to him. His latest unsurprisingly finds him in Spain, but where his previous trio of England based films were either contemplative crime dramas or slight comedies, Vicky Cristina Barcelona is a gorgeous, funny and moving tale of art, love and life. Two American girlfriends on summer holiday in Spain become involved with a painter and his volatile ex-wife as they struggle to figure what they want from life and what it is that sustains them. This is all familiar thematic territory for Allen, but seemingly invigorated by the Spanish landscape, Vicky Cristina Barcelona is bracingly alive and fresh. Blessed with fantastic performances across the board and luminous work by cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe, Allen’s latest is another entry into the growing canon of his top tier films.

Sweet

The trailer for Sugar, my most anticipated film of 2009, has arrived. Click here to check it out.

And the nominees are....

Last week, the Academy unveiled this year's Oscar nominees and as usual, there were plenty of surprises and snubs.

The Dark Knight, highly expected to earn both Best Picture and Best Director nominations was, to the chagrin of hardcore fans, shut out of both categories. Even in the Best Score category in which the Academy first ruled the film ineligible and later reversed their decision, the film failed to snag a nomination. That said, Heath Ledger got his inevitable Best Supporting Actor nomination, and the film picked up numerous technical nominations of which they are sure to win at least a couple.

Clint Eastwood, a longtime favorite of the Academy, was largely shut out as well. Outside of a Best Actress nomination for Angelina Jolie for Changeling (which also earned a couple of art and technical nominations), Eastwood was left empty handed.

In the Best Picture category, the biggest surprise was the inclusion of The Reader. The nomination of the film which received lukewarm reviews, confirmed two things: that Ricky Gervais' joke about making a Holocaust film will get you an Oscar nomination is funny because it's true and that Harvey Weinstein (who waged a very public battle with former producer Scott Rudin to get the film released in time for awards consideration) despite his studio's troubles still has considerable pull in Hollywood.

In the acting categories, longtime character actor Richard Jenkins was given a well deserved nomination for his turn in the excellent film, The Visitor. Robert Downey Jr. was given a nod in the Best Supporting Actor column for his role in the otherwise middling Tropic Thunder, leading to some speculation he may be a spoiler for what appears to be Heath Ledger's lock on the award.

Otherwise, the nominees are, by and large, fairly obvious if not dull. 2008 was not a great year for film. None of the Best Picture nominees even come close to 2007's nominees which included, among others, No Country For Old Men, There Will Be Blood and Michael Clayton. That said, we can only hope that M.I.A. decides to perform at the awards for her nominated song "O Saya" from Slumdog Millionaire. That would certainly blow some life into what looks like a very dull affair this year.

I will return soon with my own predictions and choices for this year awards.