Month: December 2005

Jiminy Glick in LaLawood

I’m honestly a little amazed that no one has mentioned this film yet – let alone seen it. I mean, you people obviously aren’t afraid to watch shitty films as evidenced by discussions on Catwoman, Fantastic Four, and Two-Lane Blacktop. Also, I know there are big fans of SCTV here. Bruns I think is a big Martin Short fan, and I think Reynolds is as admiring of Clifford as I am.

Also, the Jiminy Glick show on Comedy Central was consistently funny. Watching A-listers like Tom Hanks and Seinfeld stare in amazement as Glick brings up incredibly obscure points about their lives and then stuffs his face with donuts and candy – It made for good TV. Continue reading Jiminy Glick in LaLawood

Upright Citizens

First, I’ll just plug the comedy troupe: Amy Poehler, Matt Besser, Matt Walsh, and Ian Roberts. They had a short gig on Comedy Central, and now pop up seemingly everywhere in small roles (or, for Poehler, bigger billing on SNL). They–the shows–are damn funny.

I am doubting anyone else even has this on their radar, so I’ll post it: saw Walsh & Roberts’ film Martin & Orloff last night, and it’s a lower-key funny, analogous to Brain Candy‘s relation to Kids in the Hall: fun for fans but perhaps not particularly effective at trying to win over new fans, strangely intent on a more narrative form but also often wholly unconcerned with that narrative, and full of some fine, small, absurdist moments. I laughed out loud a number of times. The plot: Martin designs character costumes for an ad agency, but is struggling with the guilt of not putting eye-holes on suits–leading to a horrible eggroll mishap, and a subsequent suicide attempt. Orloff is, ostensibly, the therapist assigned his case. Comedy hijinks ensue. Continue reading Upright Citizens

Inspired opening sequences

I’ve been thinking about this lately: the opening sequence of a film. It’s typical for a filmmaker to go the narrative exposition route–that is, he/she front-loads all the essential information about what has happened prior to when the film begins so that audiences can feel comfortable, informed, aware, and be absorbed into the diagesis. There are exceptions. Some of the James Bond films give us “pre-credit sequences” that are more like sideshows, and these sequences do not, in any way, prepare audiences for the film as such (I’m thinking of Goldfinger, Thunderball, The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, Octopussy, and so on). What I’m interested in, however, are opening shots, or sequences of shots, that do not provide anything in the way of narrative info, but do, in some way, capture the overall theme or tone of the film. The thing is that, upon first viewing, these shots or sequences of shots, may slip by us. We may not recall them, we may not process them, they may, in some cases, even hinder our efforts to “get into” the film. But upon subsequent viewings, they seem to resonate. Continue reading Inspired opening sequences

Question for Film Eggheads

riddle me this, dynamic didacts: let’s say you were assigned to teach a class with the unwieldly title “Popular Culture, Civil Society and the Public Sphere” where at least one unit would focus on comedy, another on historical representation and yet another on critique of the media/culture industry. What films (and affiliated texts) might you wish to teach? in 100 words or less, why? I ask purely out of curiousity and not at all because I am preparing a sample syllabus for such a topic and wish to pick your brains….that would be unseemly.

Cowboy sex

Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain is a work of art—a lean, spare, unsentimental film suffused with loneliness and longing. That being said, I think the American public will ignore this plaintive love story. Though the Wyoming landscape is gorgeous to look upon (cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto deserves an award from someone), the film’s episodic structure and the lack of big, sweeping emotional moments (i.e. MAINSTREAM) will limit the film’s appeal. Admittedly, I walked away from the screening feeling a bit let down. I guess I wanted the Gay Gone With the Wind everyone’s been hyping. I wanted to feel emotionally drained. Such expectations, however, are not fair. The film is certainly full of big moments and genuine human conflict and there are well-earned laughs throughout. Still, it is far from histrionic and the nature of the story of these two men preclude the kind of fireworks I was expecting. Instead, Brokeback Mountain is a quiet and contemplative film fueled by passive aggression, self-loathing, fear and sadness. I have been haunted by it for the last dozen hours or so—I’m in a melancholy mood today—and such a response is due to the filmmakers deep respect for their source material as well as the story’s contentious subject matter not to mention the heart-wrenching performances of Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Williams and a memorable supporting turn by “Freaks and Geeks” alum Linda Cardellini.

Geopolitics and mainstream film

Less flashy but more substantial than The Constant Gardener, I found Syriana to be intelligent and provocative—an unassuming and impassioned yet labyrinthine melodrama. Though it flirts with moral ambiguity, the film is very clear about who the bad guys are and who the good guys are. The fact that some of the good guys are perceived to be, at first, bad buys doesn’t make their purity of intent any less romanticized. The film requires great patience but the rewards are there . . . indeed, the film’s climax is quite exciting and suspenseful. I will also point to the fine ensemble work among the actors (in particular, the young man who played the Pakistani terrorist in training).

Narnia

When it is not attempting (poorly) to replicate the visual splendor and complexity of the Lord of the Rings films (the CGI here can be quite muddy), The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe proves to be an old fashioned, delightfully charming work of family entertainment. It is not the centaurs or dryads or giants or talking beavers that captures one’s attention but the subtle and unforced performances of the young actors in the central roles. Director Adamson has coaxed very good work from these kids, and it is their commitment to the material that makes the film soar. Tilda Swinton is fantastic as the White Witch (and her costumes are fabulous), and James McAvoy’s gentle, enchanting performance as Mr. Tumnus was truly memorable (he’s all the rage in our house at the moment). The adaptation opens up yet improves upon C.S. Lewis’ novel, which, after reading it aloud to my daughter last week, can grow a bit twee. After the wearisome Harry Potter IV, I was a bit reluctant about taking Cate to another big holiday film, but she was absolutely riveted. Indeed, the theatre was packed and, considering the number of small children in the auditorium, remarkably—reverently—silent.

obsessive behaviour

recently watched: the duellists (for the first time) and fitzcarraldo (for the second time after many, many years).

i liked the duellists quite a bit, even if visually it seemed somewhat like barry lyndon-lite. scott always seems more interested in images than narrative, and i think comes closest in this film to fusing them. ferraud’s obsessive revenge on d’hubert is mirrored by the film’s obsessive interest in costume and the trappings of chivalry–and the general fussiness of day to day life during the napoleonic wars throws into relief the simplicity of ferraud’s mania. i don’t know how many of you have seen it or remember it clearly, but i’m interested in your take on the feud that drives the narrative.

*spoiler alert for those who have not seen it.*
Continue reading obsessive behaviour

Diddlebock

Preston Sturges inspires the kind of rapturous drunkenly-exuberant logorrheic responses in critics that he depicts in his characters. There are moments of sublime confusion in most of his films–and a few (The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek and Unfaithfully Yours are my favorites) never flag once they’ve set up the idiosyncrasies of characters and subplots: you get dizzying explosions of action and chatter, everyone overly-crammed into a shot, leaning and yelling over one another, as if but for the camera’s framing they’d fly off into all corners of a room. It can be exhilirating.

Continue reading Diddlebock

of gay actors, indian actors, and pride and prejudice

this is my first post, and i’m sure i’m already going all wrong about it. but since arnab forced me to use the password “italysucks” for my first login, i’m trying to mess up his site as much as i can.

i have nothing to say on gay actors, but i thought i’d bring the debate that’s being conducted under michael’s post on steven spielberg to a location where people can find it (why do i know that suddenly no one will have absolutely anything more to say on the subject?).

i would like, though, to say something more on the topic of identity specific actors. the first thing i want to say is screw current theories of performance. the second thing i want to say is that, as reynolds says, it matters very little whether actors can represent characters whose identity is racially/ethnically different from their own (i’m intentionally leaving out class and sexuality — and gender doesn’t seem to be a problem nowadays!), when foreign actors and actors of color have a hard time getting jobs in high-paying hollywood. Continue reading of gay actors, indian actors, and pride and prejudice