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  • 04 Feb

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    Saturday Morning Toons: The Abominable Snow Rabbit

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    Picking up one of our cats and going “I’m gonna hold him and squeeze him and call him George” while cuddling them so close the cat stares at us in disdain is not uncommon in my household. Seemed like a good time to revisit the classic Chuck Jones cartoon that inspires those outpourings of affection. Bugs and Daffy take that wrong turn in Albuquerque and wind up in the domain of the Abominable Snowman. But the extent of his abominability is that he just might love you to death. Filled with classic Jones face-pulling and bright, minimalist backgrounds.

  • 02 Feb

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    Rewatched and Reconsidered: Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

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    (3.5/5)

    On paper, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang ought to be a film I absolutely love. Film noir homage? Check. Twisty turny crime plot? Check. Self-aware meta narration? Check. Robert Downey Jr? Check. Yet when I first saw the film several years ago I remember being underwhelmed and every time I’ve thought of the film since it’s been with a sort of vague discontent. But a lot of people who generally like the same stuff as I do constantly praise it and think it’s brilliant. I couldn’t really remember enough about the film to identify what it was that left me cold, so I figured it was time for a rewatch – maybe I’d get it this time, or at least be able to pinpoint what about it didn’t work for me.

    The initial premise is pretty great, with RDJ as a small-time crook who stumbles into an audition as he’s running away from the cops after a badly botched job (in which his partner got shot and killed). Unwittingly playing along, he winds impressing the casting directors and is carted off to Hollywood, where he’s assigned to shadow a real detective (Val Kilmer) as preparation for this role he might get. Even though the detective, nicknamed Gay Perry (“because he’s gay”), insists that real life detective work is boring and not like the movies, bodies soon start piling up, seemingly unrelated events turn out to be intertwined, and RDJ ends up right in the middle of all of it. Meanwhile, he offers almost continual narration of the most self-aware type; he comments on how things like this play out in the movies (“don’t you hate in movies when it seems like that one guy died, and then it turns out he didn’t and jt’s so fake”) or how bad a narrator he is (going back to tell a part of the story he neglected to tell earlier).

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  • 28 Jan

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    Saturday Morning Toons: Red Hot Riding Hood

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    No other classic cartoon director was as visually inventive as Tex Avery, who could come up with a visual pun for just about anything. He was also able to take a joke far past the point where most other directors would’ve left it and vary it just enough to keep it hilarious. After a brief stint at Warner Bros., where he contributed greatly to the development of Bugs Bunny in A Wild Hare, he ended up at MGM directing the Droopy cartoons as well as a bunch of toons starring the nearly forgotten Screwy Squirrel. And also the trio of modernized fairy tales that perhaps stand as his finest legacy – Swing Shift Cinderella, Little Rural Riding Hood, and the one that started it all it, Red Hot Riding Hood. From breaking the fourth wall by having the characters demand a new version of the story to the sexed up Riding Hood as a burlesque dancer to the depiction of the wolf as a Hollywood womanizer to the manhunting grandma, this is the risque side of Avery turned up to eleven, and it is awesome.

  • 27 Jan

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    Review: Coriolanus

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    (2.5/5)

    Sometimes I think there are reasons why some Shakespeare plays remain largely unknown among his vast repertoire – I have never read Coriolanus or seen it performed, but assuming this is a fairly faithful adaptation in terms of the text itself, it’s just…not that interesting. Caius Martius (Ralph Fiennes, who also directs) is a great military leader in Rome (here modernized in everything but language, and acting styles to some degree) whose contempt for anyone not born patrician makes him no friend of the commoners rioting over their lack of food. After a successful war against the invading Volscian army, he’s granted the honorific “Coriolanus” and encouraged to run for the consul, which he does, even briefly gaining the support of the commoners before a pair of conniving tribunes double-cross him and, with the support of the crowd, call for his banishment. He joins the Volsci, becoming the right-hand man of his former blood enemy Aufidius (Gerard Butler) to attack Rome, until his wife and mother (Jessica Chastain and Vanessa Redgrave) beg him to stop.

    All of the twists and turns in the plot seem to come out of nowhere, with people changing sides or points of view at the drop of a hat. The script is probably abbreviated from Shakespeare’s play (the film runs just over two hours, about an hour less than most Shakespeare done in full), which might explain some of the disjointedness, but unfortunately it also feels longer than it is. It’s hard to relate to Coriolanus, who has a highly developed sense of honor but is also a total dick a good portion of the time – his shifts from speechifying the commoners to get their support to denouncing them as unworthy to vote are practically bipolar, and so is the crowd’s instant reversals from distrust to support to anger. These may all be problems inherent to the source material, but the overwrought and unintentionally comical acting styles in this section don’t do anything to help it.

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  • 24 Jan

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    My Favorite Non-2011 Films Seen in 2011

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    All of our favorite 2011 films are posted here as a series of top ten lists, and we’re all busily discussing this year’s Oscar nominations, but there are, of course, plenty of films we watched in 2011 that were released in all kinds of other years. These are some of my favorites of the films I saw for the first time in 2011, regardless of what year they were originally released. Not limited to a specific number, nor specifically ranked, though films I liked the best are closer to the top.

    What are some of the best things you saw in 2011, regardless of release date?

    Le cercle rouge (1967)

    I had a feeling I was going to like this film, just based on how much I’ve liked Jean-Pierre Melville’s other films, especially Le samourai, which, if I recall correctly, topped my favorites list in 2010. I had no idea I’d like it as much as I did. Melville weaves several plotlines together, involving a criminal just out of prison, the mob he steals money from, a detective chasing a different escaped con, a former sharpshooter cop who’s now an alcoholic, and more. Each of them has their own narrative rise and fall, and each character has their own arc, but they all interplay in an incredibly intricate way, as different ones join up on a heist (one of the best heist sequences in cinema) and others try to track them down for their own reasons. It’s hard to explain, but very easy and clear to watch. Brilliant work on all levels.

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  • 19 Jan

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    Trailer: Resident Evil 5

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    You didn’t think I’d pass up this trailer, now did you? Take one part of the teaser trailer for Resident Evil: Apocalypse (still one of the best teasers ever made, for my money, regardless of how crappy the movie turned out), one part all-out global warfare (with very few zombies in sight, to be honest), and if that’s not epic enough, throw in music from The Who and Inception Tron: Legacy [my bad] and then top it all off with a bunch of Sony product placement, and there you go. Milla Jovovich is ready to kick ass as Alice for the fifth time in Resident Evil: Retribution. One thing I’m unclear about – wasn’t that Michelle Rodriguez? As I recall, her character is a little bit….uh…dead. Flashbacks, I suppose? I wonder how Paul W.S. Anderson will manage that level of complexity.

    I’ll be out opening weekend. Such is the duty required of Milla adoration.

  • 13 Dec

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    Yet a Third 2011 Montage…

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    These things are popping out of the woodwork now, it seems. This one does an outstanding job of making the films “talk” to each other via carefully chosen dialogue snippets, forming little sections of story that blend into each other really well. I’m not a fan of all the music choices (though extra thumbs up for the David Lynch track), but in terms of creating a narrative and emotional throughline, this may be the best of the 2011 montages yet. Plus, it includes some films that the other two we’ve found haven’t included, especially some foreign stuff like Heartbeats, Love Crime, and A Separation. Kudos for variety!

  • 12 Dec

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    Film on TV: December 12-18

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    Fanny and Alexander, playing Sunday on TCM

    A few choice new ones this week, including holiday favorites A Christmas Carol (the 1951 British version) and The Bishop’s Wife, plus iconic Newman film The Hustler, Amy Adams breakthrough film Junebug, Katharine Hepburn-Cary Grant collaboration Holiday (playing in a block with their other three films together), and Ingmar Bergman’s Fanny and Alexander.

    Monday, December 12

    6:00pm – MGM – A Shot in the Dark
    Here’s your counter example for the “sequels are never as good as the original” argument. This second film in the Pink Panther series is easily the best, and stands as ones of the zaniest 1960s comedies ever.
    1964 USA. Director: Blake Edwards. Starring: Peter Sellers, Herbert Lom.

    8:00pm – TCM – A Christmas Carol
    Usually considered among the best of the classic adaptations of A Christmas Carol, with Alastair Sim certainly playing a pretty definitive Scrooge surrounded by a great cast of British character actors.
    1951 UK. Director: Brian Desmond Hurst. Starring: Alastair Sim, Jack Warner, Kathleen Harrison.
    Newly Featured!

    9:45pm – TCM – Oliver Twist
    One of a couple of definitive film versions of Dickens’ novels that David Lean did in the ’40s. This is one of the few Dickens stories I actually do like, yet I haven’t gotten around to this version of it yet.
    1948 UK. Director: David Lean. Starring: John Howard Davies, Alec Guinness, Robert Newton, Kay Walsh, Anthony Newley.

    2:00am (13th) – TCM – Great Expectations
    David Lean’s definitive version of one of Charles Dickens’ most well-known books, about the boy Pip and his rise to fortune through the aid of a mysterious benefactor. I’ve avoided this because of my distaste for Dickens, but hey. The movie can’t have time to ramble on like Dickens does, so maybe I’d like it.
    1946 UK. Director: David Lean. Starring: John Mills, Tony Wager, Valerie Hobson, Jean Simmons, Bernard Miles, Martita Hunt.

    4:15am (13th) – TCM – Pygmalion
    A straight non-musical version of the George Bernard Shaw play that would later become My Fair Lady, with Leslie Howard as the prickly Professor Higgins who takes in street vendor Eliza Doolittle (Wendy Hiller) to turn her into a lady. A bit more acidic than the musical version.
    1938 USA. Director: Anthony Asquith, Leslie Howard. Starring: Leslie Howard, Wendy Hiller, Wilfrid Lawson, Marie Lohr.

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  • 09 Dec

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    The Films of 2011

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    I posted this on our Google+ page a little while ago, but it’s worth a post here as well. A really well-edited look back at the films of 2011 (I’m guessing the footage is all taken from trailers), split along different themes or tones. The way the editing makes the films “interact” with each other is pretty cool. There was one of these out last year for the films of 2010 that was excellent (found it!); this is not from the same person, but the person who did last year’s is apparently planning a followup as well, so we’ll have competing 2011 mashups before too long! In the meantime, enjoy this one. The YouTube description page starts with “Many good films came out this year.” Not all of these films are good, but there’s a surprising range once you get into the video a little way, and it is definitely a representative selection. Certainly makes me want to go back and revisit some stuff!

  • 08 Dec

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    DVD Triage: Week of December 6

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    A bunch of summer release movies out this week that I…didn’t see. Seriously, I haven’t seen any of the new releases this week. Except the Dragon Tattoo films, and those are extended from the versions I saw. So there’s a lot of “I’m hoping to see this sometime…” in this post. Thankfully, I HAVE seen the two Criterion releases and I can recommend them wholeheartedly, and there are also some very excellent choices coming on Instant Watch, including all the James Bond films. Again.

    New Release Picks of the Week

    The Help
    This seemingly innocuous little film about domestic race relations in the 1950s gathered a fair bit of critical controversy over the summer, but audiences generally loved it. I’m curious to check out the hullabaloo myself.
    2011 USA. Director: Tate Taylor. Starring: Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jessica Chastain.
    Amazon DVD | Amazon Blu-ray | Netflix

    Cowboys & Aliens
    Across the board negative reviews or not, I can’t shake my interest in checking this out, at the very least to see how bad a trainwreck it is. Are we talking Wild Wild West level horrific here?
    2011 USA. Director: Jon Favreau. Starring: Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford.
    Amazon DVD | Amazon Blu-ray | Netflix

    The Debt
    The second film out this week with Jessica Chastain, who was in eleventy billion movies this year, a flashback structured spy film that got a mixed reaction, but I’m still down to give it a shot.
    2010 USA. Director: John Madden. Starring: Sam Worthington, Helen Mirren, Jessica Chastain.
    Amazon DVD | Amazon Blu-ray | Netflix

    Dragon Tattoo Trilogy: Extended Edition
    Now this sounds interesting. The second and third Dragon Tattoo films were apparently chopped down for theatrical release here, and these are the full versions that were on Swedish TV – 30-50 minutes longer. Here the whole trilogy is split into six segments, like a miniseries. Curious if this improves parts 2 and 3.
    2009 Sweden. Director: Niels Arden Oplev, et al. Starring: Noomi Rapace, Michael Nyqvist.
    Amazon DVD | Amazon Blu-ray

    » Read the rest of the entry..

  • 05 Dec

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    Fighting for 35mm…and Our Cinematic Heritage

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    There’s no doubt that the future of cinema is going to be digital rather than film (as a physical format). Theatres are converting to digital projection right and left, with fewer and fewer 35mm film prints struck all the time, and the major camera manufacturers are ceasing production of film cameras to focus solely on digital cameras instead. It’s where the demand is. But this shift to digital doesn’t only affect new films, which are likely to be shot, edited, and projected digitally, never spending any phase of their creation on physical film – it also affects older films, which were shot on 35mm and meant to be projected on 35mm. Many Hollywood studios have declared their intention to stop producing 35mm prints of older films for use in repertory cinemas, museums, film forums, universities, etc, instead presenting those films only in digital formats as well.

    On the one hand, it’s easy to see why this makes sense to them. Digital copies are much easier and cheaper to store and transfer to theatres than bulky 35mm film prints. And many people will argue that digital looks better anyway, or at least consumers won’t be able to tell the difference. I heartily disagree with that – I love the tactile, physical look that 35mm has vs. the sterility of digital. But my point of view is quickly labeled romantic and old-fashioned in a world where cinema is a business and 35mm is antiquated technology. To some degree, it is a romantic perspective. I certainly get a rush of emotion every time I walk into the Silent Movie Theatre and see the film canisters sitting there, ready to be lovingly threaded through the projector by the seasoned projectionist for the evening’s screening. I smile when I see the cigarette burns signalling a reel change. I feel a connection to other audiences when a print is flawed through its many uses in other cinemas, screened for other audiences in other places. But what do my emotions, certainly the emotions of a minority of cinemagoers, matter in this equation?

    I’m definitely not alone in my love for seeing films projected on 35mm (or 70mm or whatever format was originally used to shoot them) – Julia Marchese of Los Angeles’s New Beverly Cinema, one of the foremost repertory cinemas in the country and one that would certainly feel the loss of 35mm prints, has started an online petition to Fight for 35mm. It currently has nearly 6,000 signatures of a hoped-for 10,000. Here’s the bulk of her plea:

    I firmly believe that when you go out to the cinema, the film should be shown in 35mm. At the New Beverly, we have never been about making money – a double feature ticket costs only $8. We are passionate about cinema and film lovers. We still use a reel to reel projection system, and our projectionists care dearly about film, checking each print carefully before it screens and monitoring the film as it runs to ensure the best projection possible. With digital screenings, the projectionists will become obsolete and the film will be run by ushers pushing a button – they don’t ever have to even enter the theater.

    The human touch will be entirely taken away. The New Beverly Cinema tries our hardest to be a timeless establishment that represents the best that the art of cinema has to offer. We want to remain a haven where true film lovers can watch a film as it was meant to be seen – in 35mm. Revival houses perform an undeniable service to movie watchers – a chance to watch films with an audience that would otherwise only be available for home viewing. Film is meant to be a communal experience, and nothing can surpass watching a film with a receptive audience, in a cinema, projected from a film print.

    I feel very strongly about this issue and cannot stand idly by and let digital projection destroy the art that I live for. As one voice I cannot change the future, but hopefully if enough film lovers speak up, we can prove to the studios that repertory cinema is important and that we want 35mm to remain available to screen.

    » Read the rest of the entry..

  • 04 Dec

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    Film on TV: November 5-11

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    The-Bank-Dick.jpg
    The Bank Dick, playing Saturday on TCM

    Pretty good grab bag of Newly Featured ones this week, from Christmas classics like A Christmas Carol (the 1938 version, Monday on TCM) and A Christmas Story (Tuesday on TCM) to more recent releases like Nights and Weekends (Wednesday on Sundance) and that thing you do! (Tuesday on Fox Movie Channel). Plus, W.C. Fields’ finest hour in The Bank Dick, playing Saturday on TCM.

    Monday, December 5

    11:45am – IFC – A Prairie Home Companion
    One of Robert Altman’s final films, and one I’ve not yet gotten up to in my attempts to rectify my Altman blind spot. As much as I’ve enjoyed the films of his I have seen, though, I’m definitely putting his entire filmography higher on my to-watch list.
    2006 USA. Director: Robert Altman. Starring: Woody Harrelson, Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, Lindsay Lohan, Virginia Madsen, John C. Reilly, Maya Rudolph, Lily Tomlin.

    12:15pm – TCM – The Man With the Golden Arm
    Frank Sinatra gets one of his best acting roles as card dealer Frankie Machine, recently back from rehab and wanting to become a drummer, but held back and lured back into dealing and addiction by those around him. Solid direction and supporting performances, plus a great jazz score, make this a hard-hitting and excellent film.
    1955 USA. Director: Otto Preminger. Starring: Frank Sinatra, Kim Novak, Eleanor Parker.

    9:45pm – TCM – A Christmas Carol (1938)
    Generally, the 1951 British version of Dickens’ classic novella is considered the best of the classic adaptations, but this 1938 version is pretty solid, too, with a solid group of character actors taking on the roles of Scrooge, Cratchit, and others.
    1938 USA. Director: Edwin L. Marin. Starring: Reginald Owen, Gene Lockhart, Kathleen Lockhart, Leo G. Carroll, Ann Rutherford.
    Newly Featured!

    12:35am (6th) – IFC – Valhalla Rising
    Nicholas Winding Refn’s nearly wordless take on the Viking action film, privileging visual storytelling and a somewhat surreal and philosophical feel.
    2009 Denmark. Director: Nicholas Winding Refn. Starring: Mads Mikkelsen, Maarten Stevenson, Alexander Morton.
    (repeats at 2:35am)

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