Fourteen days have passed and we present to you, another issue of “Movies We Watched.” This is, of course, the regular capsule posting of films consumed that may not have made it to a full post around the Row Three office. The ever growing series of these since the inception of this website can be browsed by clicking the icon on the sidebar. Or feel free to comment on the subset below.
Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants (1996) 4/5
Ricky Jay most folks probably know as a supporting player in many of David Mamet’s films (and occasionally in P.T. Anderson’s). He is often the sleight-of-hand or confidence scheme consultant on films like The Illusionist and The Prestige. He designed the wheelchair contraptions that hides Gary Sinise’s legs in Forrest Gump. But really, Jay is best preforming his amazing gifts of sleight of hand with cards. In his 1996 show that was filmed by Mamet, Jay is in full raconteur mode giving historical anecdotes on the famous or forgotten practitioners of the strange and the unusual while performing classic tricks. His routine on the classic cup and balls is a treat. Whether or not you can spot the various sleight-of-hand tricks or not, sit back and marvel at showmanship at its finest. -KURT
Seppuku (1962) 4.5/5
Samurai films are not my specialty but at some point this came really recommended and thank goodness too because I thoroughly enjoyed Masaki Kobayashi’s “anti” Samurai film which makes a point to undercut some of the ideas behind the samurai tradition with a small, personal tragedy. Beautifully shot and amazingly well paced, this was a surprising treat. Highly recommended. -MARINA
White Night Wedding (2008) 4/5
Here was a pleasant surprise out of the Mpls Film Festival. While normally I despise films that have dramatic shifts of tone that flip on a dime, White Night Wedding somehow managed to keep me engrossed at all times while giving off a vibe of pure delight. With several characters that exude heart and fun, it’s impossible not to come away from the film in love with all of them. Laughs abound; then softened by moments of fairly dark drama are balanced well in this wonderfully shot and lighthearted (with something to say) island wedding. -ANDREW
Gardens of the Night (2008) 3/5
The first half of Damian Harris’ film is a masterwork in restraint, dealing with a difficult subject (child kidnapping and prostitution) with care and a beautiful tenderness. Ryan Simpkins’ performance is staggering and beautifully captured sadly, the film looses a little steam when it introduces the children as adults. At that point, it becomes a very typical story of street youth which though proficiently made, lacks the power of the film’s first half. -MARINA
Strongman (2009) 1.5/5
Think of it as the downer version of ANVIL, this on-the-cheap documentary follows Stanless Steel, the man who can bend fold pennies with his bare hands and lift three adults with one finger. Along with his girlfriend of three years, who pines for her days as a model, they struggle to get his Strongman career back on track despite Stan’s approach towards middle age. Faced with a lack of paying jobs, a lackluster amount of showmanship and Stan’s emotional ups and downs, their relationship struggles and sputters along with his chance for glory. Time spent with Stan and his somewhat dysfunctional family is not entirely wasted, buried in the 2 hour documentary is a message about strength and weakness and those that do not overcome. -KURT
100 Feet (2008) 3/5
Famke Janssen has to duke it out against the ghost of her abusive ex-husband. Sound like it could be interesting and Eric Red’s film does have some genuinely creepy moments but the mix of special effects, occasional overacting and the under use of Ed Westwick were a bit disappointing. Made for a mediocre time killer. -MARINA
Across the Universe (2007) 4.5/5
Everyone complains that there is not creativity left in Hollywood anymore. Then Julie Taymor comes along and gives us something extremely high on the creative scale with amazingly artful visuals and a wonderful (though sometimes melancholy) soundtrack. I see (and hear) no problem reliving these classic Beatles tunes with new and interesting arrangements – particularly when used in context with an overall story arc. Yeah we already know the story of the 60′s, but it’s anything but bland when told through the eyes of Ms. Taymor. Despite studio interference, Taymor has created something great enough to get me behind pretty much any project she tackles. -ANDREW
Yay, someone else who liked Across the Universe! I don’t think Taymor was wholly successful with it, but I was thrilled that she took the risks she did. Too many movies try to be too safe.
Yeah, not really sure what’s not to like. Maybe it’s a little corny and I suppose Beatles enthusiasts might feel a little miffed by a cheerleader on the bleachers singing “I Wanna Hold Your Hand,” but I for one thought it was great and I love the arrangements. Again, putting them in context with a story makes the songs that much more interesting and dare I say profound.
Those scenes in the bowling alley and the military recruitment office are nothing short of awesome in terms of lighting and choreography.
Oh yeah – adding Bono and The Secret Machines to the cast is a nice touch.
On Across the Universe, I was all keen to see the movie, but the compromised editing kerfuffle and the (now phantom) promise of a Taymor directors cut held me off.
Also, WHITE NIGHT WEDDING was on my top ten of 2008. Bloody fabulous film that is the complete package and should be seen by everyone who loved Rachel Getting Married as sort of the other end of the spectrum…Not verite, stylish and somewhat light and warm.
The problem with White Night Wedding and why I don’t think it’s amazing is that the jokes and lighthearted bits felt just a little bit to… wholesome? Sort of a made for TV feel. Jokes that senior citizens would really find funny (the lady next to me was howling). Most of the time I was just smiling – not really laughing – with a few exceptions.
Also, the more irreverent bits, although important and profound (and yes, the whole point of the story) really irked me sometimes. They were a bit jarring and sometimes felt out of place. I LOVED pretty much everything else. Basically from the beach side dinner scene and onward, the film is almost perfect. Though the wedding itself almost teeters on the brink of having too much silliness. It doesn’t fall off the fence, but it comes close.
Kurt, Across the Universe = 54% at Rotten Tomatoes. Right up your alley I should think.
Andrew and Jandy aren’t alone in their Across the Universe love. I enjoyed it a whole lot as well.
Kurt is ghay for Baltasar.
“On Across the Universe, I was all keen to see the movie, but the compromised editing kerfuffle and the (now phantom) promise of a Taymor directors cut held me off.”
I think an Across the Universe director’s cut is one of those cases in which the film would actually end up WORSE than it already is.
I’m really surprised Jay C is not into AtU; particularly considering his rant on a recent FilmJunk podcast about how no one does anything just for the sake of it looking cool anymore (e.g. lighting, choreography, visual awesomeness).
I want to know what it is about AtU that people seem to find so offensive. Is it the corny storyline? The music? The actors? The setting or the style? Instead of just saying it is awful, I’d really like to know why people think that. Every moment of AtU is something refreshing; both aurally and visually.
@ Jay C. – fair enough. I actually never even knew the Directors Cut existed. Often when film pass out of their original run I never manage to get back to them. Usually when I’m ordering movies, I tend to order older movies or foreign stuff.
Sad that things didn’t work out for Ms. Taymor, and I’m not saying that Director’s cut always works out for the best.
Donnie Darko’s “Studio Cut” is far superior to the recent directors cut. I happen to think the “S-Mart” ending in Evil Dead II is also more tonally correct with that film (if not necessarily the series), and think it is better (along with a lot of the other trims and cuts.
I wanted to love Across the Universe.. I really did, but it just didn’t click for me. I didn’t really care about the main character so that really hurt it. I should give it another chance though. I wouldn’t say it’s offensive, although I think there are those that think anything Beatles shouldn’t be messed with.
Loved White Night Wedding though, sorry to hear you only sounded like mostly enjoyed it Andrew. I saw it at TIFF’08 and it was definitely one of the highlights, especially the humour (but I’m not a blue rinser yet, at least not for grey).
What I hated about Across the Universe:
1. The adapted versions of the songs are on par with the adapted versions of classic music on American Idol. The arrangements were terrible for the most part, utterly cheesy and far from innovative. The vocalists didn’t take any risks. The music is completely irrelevant.
2. I was never blown away by the visuals. I thought they were on par with a Vegas or Broadway musical…which basically is what they are. On a stage in front of a live audience? Maybe they would’ve worked. On film? Not so much. This film has some pretty tough competition nowadays with so many visionary filmmakers upping the ante both in the film world and mainly in the commercial/music video world. Taymor’s take on things is neither inspired or cutting edge in my opinion.
3. The WORST part of this film; attempting to apply visuals that are literal representations of the lyrics. Dear Prudence = A girl named prudence who locks herself in a closet while her friends sing ‘Dear Prudence, won’t you come out and play?’ I wanna Hold Your Hand is clumsily forced into a trying-way-too-hard-to-be-liberal lesbian side plot. Predictable. Hand that song over to a room of 100 creative people and ask them to modernize it and I guarantee 70-80% of them would come up with this idea. Totally uninspired.
4. The story didn’t do much for me and I thought the majority of the acting was over-dramatic. Again, Broadway.
5. If you’re going to have the balls to re-imagine some of the most beloved songs of the last century, you better bring your A game. Maybe look beyond Broadway and take a chance on up and coming cutting edge music producers to help visualize this thing. Instead, they go for the best studio musicians they can find. The music is absolutely soulless. Irrelevant.
Overall, I hated the resistance to do anything truly cutting edge. They played it completely safe. Their idea of thematically revising a classic song is taking something that was sung by a man to a girl and having it sung by a girl to a girl. A total joke.
#4 I can totally understand your problem with. It’s a very stale story we’ve seen a hundred times.
Your #1, 3 and 5 points are basically the same, and all I can say to that is to each their own. I like the idea of manipulating the story a little bit to fit the songs. I can see your point that maybe it’s a bit lazy. But still, before these were just catchy songs to me, now within the movie they have much more meaning.
As for the arrangements and melodies themselves, I liked them. For me they don’t have to be complete re-envisions of the song or have an “edge” to them; they can simply be covers. I can live with that and if they sound good, I like it.
In response to #2 about the visuals, maybe some of that could be done on broadway; but the use of editing makes them click along a lot better and at a faster pace that couldn’t be achieved on stage (the bowling alley scene for instance). When some of the inanimate props in the film actually come alive and start moving and or images upon images, I don’t see that happening on stage either.
Again though, this is obviously a case of love it or hate it (you either like the songs and the visuals, or they grate on you). And I totally can see both points of view.
I remember when Singles came out in early 90′s and on the soundtrack The Lovemongers did a cover of “Battle of Evermore” by Led Zeppelin. It’s basically just another band doing the song and I remember a lot of my friends being really angry that this other band “ruined” a Zep song. I always thought that was stupid because it sounds good and it’s just another musician’s take on a song. It’s not blasphemy or anything, it’s just different.
Yeah, I liked Titus as well. Not completely, but I get what she was going for and a lot of it really worked. I can appreciate originality and creativity in film and it gets me to overlook a lot of otherwise annoying problems a film might have. See I’m Not There for example (one of the best films of ’07).
One of these days Taymor is going to release a film that totally blows everyone out of the water. And then people will go back and look at her back catalog and go “oh yeah, why are these films not appreciated?”
Kurt: I don’t know if a director’s cut exists. I’m just saying that if she had total control, I don’t think it would’ve made things better but possibly worse.
I did very much enjoy Taymor’s TITUS. I’d still love to see her version, the one she put together that the studio went sour on, before causing her to go a bit apeshit on the studio in public, then finally come to some compromised middle ground. If something like that ever comes out, I’ll probably see it.
KuRt.
by the way, did anyone ever do the ‘pepsi-challenge’ of comparing Renny Harlin’s Exorcist Prequel to the previously buried Paul Schrader’s Exorcist Prequel? By the time both versions came out on DVD to do this I had also lost interest….
Kurt: I did check out both Exorcist films. I had problems with both. It’s been a while though, so I can’t really remember the details.
Andrew: When you’re dealing with a film that sets a goal to update classic songs, 1, 3 and 5 are not the same. I might have been pleased with the arrangements, but not the lyrics. Or the lyrics, but not the visualization of them. They are trying to do multiple things with the music and missed the mark in every respect.
“As for the arrangements and melodies themselves, I liked them. For me they don’t have to be complete re-envisions of the song or have an “edge” to them; they can simply be covers. I can live with that and if they sound good, I like it.”
I probably would’ve been much more open to the idea of ‘just covers’. The fact that they attempted to inject modern styles and techniques into the music seems completely pointless. Why are we watching a period piece set in the sixties that’s set to music from the sixties that has been reappropriated and modernized? How about just setting the story to the original songs? Probably would’ve been much more powerful.
On Taymor – http://www.rowthree.com/2008/06/13/julie-taymor-talks-creativity/
I really really wanted to like Across the Universe, but it just didn’t work for me, and part of me is still surprised by this because I love musicals. Jay made some excellent points, I won’t bother repeating him, but I think he brings up an interesting point that the piece could have worked better on stage. Sure they might not have been able to do certain scenes, like the bowling alley, the same way, but I’m still blown away with the visual creativity I see in some modern stage shows. You could use Mamma Mia as a prime example of what works and what doesn’t between the two mediums. The live version is absolutely brilliant, while on film, it’s a mess, despite being a pretty faithful adaptation.
You could say all of the same stuff about Titus. Why make a modern retelling of a Shakespearean drama and add cars and cocaine and computers, but still wear the clothing of the time – or sometimes clothing of the 1940′s. I don’t really care tht the music is different or more rocking. This is sort of a surreal 1960′s anyway (sort of analogous to the problems and issues of the time I guess), so why not make the songs sort of surreal too. It may be pointless, but so what? It rocks.
But again, you’re either going to like it or you’re not. With music (and movies for that matter) especially, sometimes it just comes down to taste that you can’t always put a finger on why one person likes it and another doesn’t. Either you’re a White Stripes fan or they drive you crazy. I listen to the AtU soundtrack from time to time and personally love that version of “I Wanna Hold Your Hand.” I think it’s beautiful.
On a separate note, whoever that guy is that plays the best friend to Jude, he’s awesome. His voice reminds me of Johnny Depp in a way.
The two Exorcist prequels are both pretty bad, Harlin’s more so. Totally unnecessary films.
” It may be pointless, but so what? It rocks.”
That is the problem. It doesn’t rock. At all.
It rocks about as much as a ‘rock’ themed episode of American Idol in which R&B sensibilities are applied to rock songs, totally watering them down. It’s faux ‘rock’, as is Across the Universe.
The first ten minutes of The Royal Tenenbaums was better than the whole of Across the Universe.
Whoa, from reading Andrews comment about Singles I realized I am *way* more protective about Led Zeppelin than The Beatles. I don’t remember that song being covered though, I musta blocked it out.
I agree with everything Jay said, except American Idol is a compliment. I’d say more like Canadian Idol.
I acknowledge Jay’s points. I still love Across the Universe. I have other reasons (such as I like most anything resembling a musical, I like overblown surreal images, I like most things set in the 1960s, etc.), but here’s a couple of shallow ones:
Add in his accent, and I’m a goner.
Jandy: Yum, thank you!
Jim: PLEASE MAKE A GOOD MOVIE NEXT.
@Swarez, Indeed, I’ve loved every one of Kormukur’s films to date.