Maybe Taking Woodstock was pretty decent. Maybe it held its own as a film. But it’s hard to see that when you go in with high expectations. I’m thinking maybe if I had gone in with no expectations, or low expectations as I had with All About Steve, I would have liked this film more. But, no. I went in wanting too much, I guess. I wanted comedy, history, and music. I got a good amount of history, a dash of comedy, and no music. No music, in a film about Woodstock? Really? Ouch.
It was definitely an intimate, informative, and interesting look into how this world-changing event came to be. I did truly appreciate and enjoy the story of the Teichberg family, who owned the motel that’s failure and disrepair inspired son Eliot (Demitri Martin) to get the festival to be held there in Bethel. Old country staunch Russian Jewish Mrs. Teichburg was played impeccably by Imelda Staunton, and resigned-to-resign Mr. Teichburg was played sadly and compassionate-inducing by Henry Goodman. Which brings me to the fact that the cast saved the film. And it was a true ensemble cast. Established actors had mere tens of lines, but that’s okay. They each brought a little something to the wide landscape that set this historic event in motion. Emile Hirsh as a kid just returned from Vietnam and suffering from some pretty severe PTSD, Jeffrey Dean Morgan representing the town’s angry, anti-hippie population, Eugene Levy as the kindly entrepreneur, Max, who actually supplied the very land the festival was held on, Jonathan Groff as the ever-calming Michael Lang (the festival’s promoter and creative force), and perhaps most of all, Liev Schreiber as Vilma, the cross-dressing Korean War vet who has arrived to serve as brute force protection and yet with some gentle words of wisdom, too. And Martin, it must be said, played Eliot with a good heart, quirkiness, nervousness, and awkwardness that made you root for him the whole time. In general, a lot of characters were rather cliche, especially when you come to the freshly back Vietnam vets losing their minds and the hippies who live in the VW van with a life supply of acid. But for the first time, they belonged. So, you excuse the cliches, because they finally make sense, they’re justified. This is the origin of these characters, at a time when they were real.
So what makes the film barely make it past “meh?” I suppose that would be director Ang Lee, as much as I hate to say it. The film was slow, conversations and scenes lasting much longer than possible. There was an acid trip scene that lasted way, way too long, like okay, acid makes you hallucinate, we get it (I actually felt nauseated during it), and dear Lord, if I saw that damned unnecessary theatre troup naked one more time…
The biggest disappointment was that there was NO representation AT ALL of the one thing that made Wodstock was it was: the music. I’m guessing there were issues with rights? I mean, there wasn’t even a steady flow of music by Woodstock artists playing softly in the background somewhere. Okay, you got everything else right with the logistic history, but how can you make a movie about Woodstock with no music? It seems like such an easy question to us, but unfortunately, I guess Lee didn’t see it that way.
September 16th, 2009 by Courtney Iseman | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (1)
For the weeks leading up to its release I swore I would never lay eyes on even sixty seconds of All About Steve. It would insult all I stand for when it comes to film. When it hit movie theaters, critics affirmed my horror, claiming it was the “worst film on Sandra Bullock’s resume.” Ouch. But when out with a group of people, only some of them my friends making it harder to argue with strangers politely, it happened. I saw All About Steve.
Maybe it’s because my expectations were bottom-of-the-barrel, maybe it’s because Sandra Bullock is just that infectious, but I loved it. Okay, you can’t go in expecting Shawshank Redemption, but you know that already. If you know you’re going to see - and are in the mood for - a dumb, hopelessly fun comedy, this may be the best you’ve seen in a while. Bullock is just, like I said, infectious. It took me a few minutes to get past the badly highlighted mullet ‘do, but you just adore her. You also adore the equally bad-blonded Thomas Haden Church as Hartman Hughes and Bradley Cooper as Steve. They are real people with real flaws and yet somehow lovable and relatable. And I don’t know if it’s just me, but I thought DJ Qualls stole the show. I want to take him home and keep him forever and ever as my BFF - no creepiness intended.
At the end of the day, the writers have cheeeese down to an art. The morals and messages of embracing uniqueness and individuality are downright children’s special. But who cares? I caught myself smiling the whole movie, even getting chills of joy for Mary Horowitz (Bullock) at several moments throughout the film. I cheered for Mary, I cheered for Hartman, I tsked but pulled for Steve, and I really cheered for I-think-the-nameless-character, DJ Qualls.
Seeing this film won’t up your film street cred. But who the eff cares? You’ll have the best time you’ve had in a movie theater in a long time. Besides, worst film on Sandra Bullock’s resume? Has anyone seen Murder By Numbers?
September 8th, 2009 by Courtney Iseman | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (51)
The only way to convey the absurdity of the film Defendor, making its premier at the Toronto Film Festival September 12th, is to give you two pieces of information. Below is the blurb-narrative of the film, writtend by the festival staff to accompany the trailer (courtesy of ComingSoon.net) and as you read it, I want you to keep in mind that the star of this movie is Woody Harrelson.
“When night falls and danger emerges from the shadows of Hammer Town’s alleyways, Defendor is the only man who stands between us and the drug-ravaged streets. He is the last bastion of decency, the last honourable man: he is Defendor! But he is also Arthur Poppington (Woody Harrelson), a simple man who lives in the workshop of the construction company that employs him to hold traffic signs. Arthur is a self-made superhero who runs afoul of the law when he lays a beating on an undercover cop, Chuck Dooney (Elias Koteas), who was abusing a young prostitute named Kat (Kat Dennings). Always the hero, Arthur takes Kat to his secret hideout hoping she can help him find his arch-nemesis, the diabolical Captain Industry. Mistakenly convinced that Captain Industry killed his mother, Arthur has made it his mission to track down this enemy at all costs. But in order to do so, he must first overcome his most difficult challenge ever: convincing the court-appointed psychiatrist Dr. Park (Sandra Oh) that he’s sane enough to be on the streets…”
It’s great that Kat Dennings and Sandra Oh star, too, but…enough to save this one?
I GIVE UP ON FILMS. IN GENERAL. I don’t know how I didn’t know about this, but they effin-bleepin did a @##!!*$%&!!! sequel to Boondock Saints. The scarilege is called Boondock Saints: All Saints Day, and will hit movie theaters October 30th. I will obviously go see it because I am a glutton for punishment and apparently masochistic. The film picks up with the McManus brothers hiding out in “the green valleys of Ireland” but return to Boston’s gritty streets upon hearing their priest there was murdered. Not only is Willem Dafoe not in this, but there’s a “sexy FBI operative on their trail.” I think the original is one of the best films of all time. But it’s so incredibly campy I was foolish enough to believe it was safe from sequel or remake. For a second I was surprised they got the originals, Norman Reedus and Sean Patrick Flannery back. But then I remembered they haven’t actually done anything since the original and probs need the cash.
This is weird. Warner Bros. has tapped Guy Ritchie to direct their upcoming Lobo, a live-action take on the DC comic about an “alien interstellar bounty hunter.” He’s seven feet tall, blue, rides a “pimped out” motorcycle, and has a teenage girl for a sidekick. This comic has somehow flown under my radar. And I can’t imagine Ritchie directing this. Unless Lobo has a nearly incomprehensible Cockney accent and gets embroiled in an underground gambling scene while his teen sidekick does an awkwardly sexy dance while she kills three members of a rival gang.
On a classier note, The Weinstein Company has just acquired international rights to The King’s Speech, which will star Colin Firth (sigh) and Geoffrey Rush (sigh for different, I-respect-his-acting reason). Firth plays Queen Elizabeth II’s father, who became King George VI, but was plagued with outstanding nerves and a stammer. He recruits speech therapist Lionel Logue (Rush) to help him and they develop a strong friendship, which leads to George being able to step up and lead the country with boldness and power. A 2010 release is planned.
September 3rd, 2009 by Courtney Iseman | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (68)
So, I’m dying to see a trailer for this movie, as I can’t get a grasp on what kind of film it will be: Your Highness stars Natalie Portman, Zooey Deschanel, Justin Theroux, James Franco, and Danny McBride and tells the story of a lazy douche prince played by McBride, who has to save his dad’s kingdom. Deschanel is a kidnapped princess. It sounds likea quirky, offbeat fantasy comedy, and while the plot reads suckfest, the cast is making me think it will go in another, non-suckfest direction.
Do not fear, there will be a sequel to the stupidity celebration known as Hancock. It shall be called Hancock 2. New screenwriters have been brought on, I suppose under the false hopes that this can be made good.
Unlikely couple Russell Crowe and Elizabeth Banks will star in The Next Three Days, the American remake of French horror flick Pour Elle, in which a couple finds themselves in “unthinkable” situations and “the limits of love are tested.” Quel horreur.
This sounds amazing: Dark Knight’s Christopher Nolan is directing Inception!, set to be released in movie theaters July 16, 2010. Too long to wait for this “sci-fi thriller set within the architecture of the mind.” Sounds deep, and while could teeter on dumb, has a brilliant cast of Matt Dillon, Marion Cotillard, Cillian Murphy, Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Ken Watanabe, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Michael Caine.
Gus van Sant is currently in talks with Columbia Pictures to develop and direct Restless, a script being kept tightly under wraps but is supposedly a super contemporary and honest depiction of young love. Ron Howard is attached to produce.
August 25th, 2009 by Courtney Iseman | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (95)
Heading to the movie theaters this Friday? Here’s what’s new:
Halloween II: isn’t it somewhat more…appropriate to debut this a little bit closer to its namesake holiday? I mean, that wouldn’t make it not suck, but at least people would be more in the mood to spend twelve bucks on movie tickets to sit through a weak story line, painfully fake gore, and tired, no, exhausted lines and characters. In this beating of a dead horse, Michael Moore…comes back…for, well, more.
The Final Destination: It’s THE final destination. Promise, guys? Promise after this one, you won’t make any more of these? All the destinations will have been covered? If you promise, then I will allow this 3-D monstrosity to exist. For, like, two weeks.
Taking Woodstock: Ang Lee’s much buzzed about film starring Demetri Martin finally opens, right around Woodstock’s fortieth anniversary. Watch the story of the most famous music festival come alive with brilliant character actors like Emile Hirsch, Eugene Levy, and Liev Schreiber.
Here a few creepers, or movies that have not been promoted at all. I promise you haven’t seen a trailer for more than one of these, and they may not all be opening at every theater:
Big Fan: Patton Oswalt, a football fanatic, meets his idol and it takes an “unexpected turn.” I can’t imagine why this, a star vehicle for Patton Oswalt, was under-promoted.
In another shocker of under-promotion: The Open Road, where son, Justin Timberlake, tries to bring home his father, a former famous athlete, played by Jeff Bridges. Where do they come up with these movies? Where do they come up with people who want to pay to make these movies?
Play the Game: Some guy played by Paul Campbell teaches his grandfather, played by Andy Griffith, dating tricks. In a shocking twist of cinematic irony, Grandpa ends up teaching ol’ sonny boy some tricks of his own. You do understand writing about these movies is killing me, right?
The September Issue: the long-awaited, actually heavily promoted documentary by R.J. Cutler finally hits theaters. Anyone who gives a damn about fashion will crowd movie theaters to see the Madam herself, Anna Wintour, behind the scenes.
August 24th, 2009 by Courtney Iseman | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (32)
I had written about My Sister’s Keeper in anticipation of its release, so it’s only right I’d follow up with a review. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. The film just sort of missed its mark. I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that it was structured too novel-esque. The movie is based on Jodi Picoult’s novel, and too often movies completely stray from their literary origins. So you’d think one that remained more loyal to the text would be a welcome change. Well, just a second. Director Nick Cassavetes used a technique that, in theory, might have seemed quite interesting. But it just didn’t play well. He moved the film along by having the different characters narrate their thoughts and the past with language that sounds like it’s straight from the book. Ugh. It just pulled the movie down whenever it was going at a nice pace. It was awkward and clunky. It made the movie less poignant coming of age tale and more Lifetime documentary. And if Cassavetes was using this technique to convey information, which I assume he was, it was unnecessary. Rule number one - or at least three or something - of screenwriting is to show, not tell. So much of what was blandly read to us by Abigail Breslin or Alec Baldwin could have been shown.
My second issue is that our main girl, Kate, who is dying of Leukemia, is just not relatable enough. You just don’t fall for her - which is awful, I know, to say about a character dying of cancer at the age of fifteen. So, of course it’s tragic and moving, but there’s a disconnect with the character that prevents really feeling for her. And it’s not actress Sofia Vassilieva’s fault. On the contrary, the young actress brings as much life to the role as the script will let her. She is a sort of glow throughout the film, and she is so real and so beautiful. But the way the role is written, Kate just never feels all the way real. It is a wonderful characteristic of Kate that she is the strength of her family crumbling around her impending death, and that she has a grace and calm resolution about her, but she’s still a teenager staring at death. She needs to have some kind of fear, or small meltdown to prove her reality. There would be more feeling there if this was a more believable role.
However, cast members like Abigail Breslin, Evan Ellingson the teenage brother, Jason Patric as the father, Cameron Diaz (who actually acted in this) as the mother, Joan Cusack as a traumatized judge, and Alec Baldwin as the lawyer, Thomas Dekker Kate’s also cancer-ridden boyfriend…they shone, and carried the film when it fell. I believe this group of people could have read anything on screen and it would have been powerful. While you might not feel exactly for Kate, you will feel for the people around her that are struggling to handle this.
And certain parts of the film are written beautifully and will really strike you. At one point Kate is worrying to her mother that her boyfriend hasn’t called her in three days. This is such a common conversation, one that every girl will at some point have with her mother or friend at least once. There are always the speculations: does he not like me anymore? Did he meet another girl? Did I do something wrong? But here you realize that death is actually an option. It’s a real possibility that her boyfriend isn’t calling because he’s died. It’s a shocking concept to wrap your head around, but it’s life to so many young people with terminal illnesses. It might have been the saddest realization of the entire film, and it really hit home. So bravo there.
I also liked how there was a real Cassavetes feel to the movie, it made it authentic. I happen to be a fan of John Cassavetes, and that style is missing from movies today. But Nick brought that romantic, painterly aesthetic to some scenes, kind of reminded me of A Woman Under the Influence. Anyway, the film is definitely worth seeing, but I’d wait to rent it instead of seeing it in theaters.
July 15th, 2009 by Courtney Iseman | Posted in Reviews, Uncategorized | Comments (0)
Did you see Juno? Were you as horrified as I was? I mean, okay, I have to give it to Juno that it was entertaining. Cute, kitschy, the lines were clever. But the clever lines could only be viewed as an art, sort of what-can-be-done-with-words. It was so over the top and unrealistic. No one talks like that. And in creating that dialogue, Juno just tried way too hard to be hipster, scenester, ironic. Most people with any interest in film shunned the movie considering it a weak thread stringing annoyingly snappy one liners together. And yet somehow Diablo Cody, a young former stripper turned screenwriter, won an Oscar for her script. Well…who knows.
If Cody was to keep penning scripts, one would at least consider her a safe bet in the world of quirky, purposefully offbeat hipster takes on rom-coms. But no. Cody has defied us by writing a horror comedy, September 18, 2009’s Jennifer’s Body. The film stars Megan Fox as a cheerleader possessed by a demon, who then starts killing off her male classmates, while her best friend, Amanda Seyfried, tries to stop her. Oh my goodness. I like horror comedies. Because let’s face it, most horror movies are ridiculous just as a genre standard. So they deserve to be mocked, but the mockery films are always better when done a bit more subtly, with some actual elements of a horror movie to add some legitimacy. For example, Scary Movie? Bad. Shaun of the Dead? Good. Jennifer’s Body? Film is dying as a whole.
So picture this. A satire-esque gore-fest told through Juno dialogue rejects. I don’t want to give too much away (though I should because you’re not seeing this, right?), in one murder scene the victim looks at his/her killer’s weapon, a boxcutter, and quips “Do you buy all your murder weapons at Home Depot?” In another scene, we see a character in a mental institition, telling us “I was coming undone like those jeans I made in Home Ec. Falling to pieces like Patsy Cline. Shredded like moo shu pork. Dead inside.” What? One description will suffice, thank you.
While this is only a prediction, this movie just misses the mark. It’s hard to succeed at the horror comedy without being flat out stupid. And it won’t look good for Cody to have an absolute bomb on her hands after only one “hit,” which will now appear to be a fluke. If anything this will be big with the teens, maybe especially with guys hoping to get some sights of skin from Megan Fox.
July 10th, 2009 by Courtney Iseman | Posted in Movie News, Uncategorized | Comments (1)
Woody Allen doesn’t make enough films these days. He has entired a new genre in film, a genre that developed out of tribute to his unique vision. Now, younger filmmakers strive to make quirky, introverted, neurotic comedies that sort of cling to each other in a comedy subset, reserved for a specific kind of movie goer, a movie goer who enjoys more subtle, realistic, thoughtful comedy. And some of these films are good - some of them fail miserably, yes, but some of them are good. But, they’re not Woody Allen films, and they never will be. And let’s be honest, Allen’s no spring chicken. I’m not saying he has one foot in the grave, but we can agree that there aren’t too many years left of his work. So as they get fewer and farther between, every film Allen releases is a gem.
Lately his films have been a little…un-Woody; dramas like Matchpoint. But with his latest, Whatever Works, Woody Allen is back. The oh-so-normal-it’s-mundane situation turns into something just a little strange, and we watch subtle caricatures of the realest of real people deal with the events…neurotically. In a match seemingly made in heaven, Allen cast Larry David as his lead. Perfect. Referred to as “schlemiels,” Allen and David are old show biz Jewish, neurotic, New York cynics. Casting David in the lead was like casting Allen’s own reflection.
But there’s one grievance I have this film, and that’s the relationship at the center of the film. David’s character, Boris, ends up letting a Mississippi runaway thirty years his junior, named Melodie, played by Evan Rachel Wood, stay at his NYC apartment - and they fall in love. Okay, first of all, what’s with Evan and old guys? Seriously, though, this is a bit disturbing to me. I get what Allen’s doing here - Boris’ motto for love is “whatever works,” so for him, it’s just whoever he falls for. Things like this do happen in real life and Allen gives us a closer look at these situations with tongue in cheek. It’s this strange thing that we can actually laugh at. Thing is, I don’t know if I can stomach watching Evan Rachel Wood and Larry David make out. I can barely stand the thought of Larry David making out with anyone, let alone someone this much younger than him. But, for Woody Allen, I will put my fears aside. It’s worth it. This is true Allen at his best, and we need to enjoy every one of these works while they’re still coming. Go embrace your neurotic side, Whatever Works is out July 1st.
July 9th, 2009 by Courtney Iseman | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)
I apparently like to talk about how there’s nothing new in film anymore, and filmmakers are completely out of ideas. Well, I’m not done with that point yet. How can I be with the frightening sequel epidemic going on? Forget swine flu, we’ve got a serious case of screenwriter’s block on our hands. There have always been the film franchises that have chugged on and dragged out just a little too long - Rocky, anyone? But lately it just seems like the easy fall back is to dig up a movie that did even fairly well and try to pump some life out of it. It’s easier than writing a whole new story, right?
Well…I know it’s risky to start anew in film, but I believe people want new. I like to think of Hollywood as one big board meeting. Well, as of recently, that board meeting consists of throwing a few ideas around, rejecting them all, and then someone going “aw, screw it, let’s just do another Yentl.” (No, thank goodness, there is no Yentl sequel in the works.) Some sequels are acceptable. Toy Story 3, for example. Three isn’t pushing it too far - yet. But three should be the limit. Plus, Toy Story are fun, family friendly films with characters that live on outside of the movies.
I suppose you could say the same about Indiana Jones, but haven’t they had enough by now? Whatever happened to going out on a high note? Do we really need to see Harrison Ford swinging on a vine waving his cane with the other arm? And guess what. Mission Impossible 4 is due out in 2011. Come on. These were great, classic movies in their heyday, but to drag them out years later and beat a dead horse…it’s almost disrespecting the greatness of them. Why not remember Harrison and Tom as the action stars we couldn’t get enough of instead of the ones that kinda bore us a little? It’s time to move on and let these movies live on in their legendary fame and popularity. But, as we’ve all seen, Hollywood suits don’t quite listen to us, so rest assured the fifth Indiana Jones is a go, and presumably, George Lucas will try to release more animated versions of his films.
July 3rd, 2009 by Courtney Iseman | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)
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