beyond the edge of reason

speaking of fat girl, we watched “bridget jones: the edge of reason” last night. this is what i don’t get about these movies–and let me note that i quite enjoyed the first one: instead of getting a hollywood actress to put on a lot of weight for a role (which i guess, along with the accent, means she’s “acting”) why not just hire a talented actress who isn’t an anorexic to begin with? ditto for charlize theron in “monster”. i mean, it isn’t like the character’s weight is fluctuating in the film (as with de niro in “raging bull). yes, yes, i get how the box-office/star system nexus works.

this would not be a bad film to watch on a plane but there’s no reason to watch it under any other circumstances–i don’t know why we did.

other notes: hugh grant is so much better playing against type (see also “about a boy” and “an awfully big adventure”); what is the appeal of colin firth? now that clive owen is on the scene are there enough roles for the two of them and sean bean?

Fat Girl

This is a well made, well acted film that I would recommend to most poeple on here, though it would likely offend some of the more moralistic types, like the late Bruns. I watched this more than a week ago, and have been thinking about it since, but I dont know that I have much to say about it. The point of view is through the eyes of a fat 13 year old girl, watching (being dragged along like a dog sometimes) by her beautiful, slightly older sister.

The director has taken a lot of heat for her films over the years – I remember “Romance” being pretty well loathed, but after enjoying Fat Girl, I will look for more of her stuff. If anyone else has seen Fat Girl, and has thoughts on it, I’d like to hear them. Also, it contains a small, but strong performance by Atom Egoyan’s wife, Arsinée Khanjian, whom I always love to see. Continue reading Fat Girl

how can i resist?

i just received an email from amazon touting something called lady in a cage. has anyone seen it? here’s part of the amazon summary. (the full summary at amazon gives the entire plot away so beware.)

In Lady in a Cage, Olivia de Havilland plays an aging, wealthy widow who is recuperating from a recent hip operation and is forced to use an elevator to get from one story of her home to the other. While she’s headed for the upper story of the house, a power failure occurs that leaves her stranded in the elevator car 12 feet off the ground. The elevator’s alarm bell arouses the curiosity of a passing wino, who comes in and helps himself to the widow’s wine cellar. The transient and a friend begin looting the house until they are one-upped by a trio of feral, neobeatnik thugs (led by a very young James Caan). All the invaders merely ignore the widow’s pleas for help as they toss her house in an orgy of violence.

i don’t know that i’m going to buy it but if netflix gets it i’m definitely renting it.

the office

people speak highly of this show, which apparently comes close to toppling “suddenly susan” as best portrayal of life in an office. i have never seen it. however, i see that bbc america is running a marathon of the first season on march 26th and the second season on april 2. is there anything on the dvd’s that makes them worth renting or am i safe just taping and watching it on vhs?

Seductive Presences

Since Jeff asked–

Seductive presences on film–people who, when they show up onscreen, you can’t turn your eyes away: Sergi Lopez, Denzel Washington, Isabelle Huppert, Cate Blanchett, River Phoenix, Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet. Ruth Gordon. The entire cast of “Deadwood,” especially McShane and Olyphant. Ben Kingsley in “Sexy Beast” but not in “Gandhi.” Jeff Turner (I’ll send you the footage). Holly Hunter, Sigourney Weaver, Susan Sarandon. Burt fucking Lancaster. Don Cheadle. Mifune. Takeshi Kitano. Tony Leung and Andy Lau. Dennis Haysbert. Graham Greene, even in “Dances with Wolves.” Samuel L. Jackson. Travolta, one out of five times he’s onscreen. Stanley Tucci, Tony Shalhoub, Hope Davis, Campbell Scott, Oliver Platt (and, despite this, “The Impostors” isn’t so great. But still). James Gandolfini and Edie Falco. Edward James Olmos. Once upon a time, Jeff Goldblum and Peter Weller. Jeffrey Wright. Jonathan Rhys-Meyer. Christian Bale, if well-fed. Philip Seymour Hoffman, John Reilly. Harry Dean Stanton. Vince Vaughn. Scarlett Johanneson. Rosario Dawson. Kimberly Elise.

Action and Violence

Maybe these are two genres. Maybe they’re 50. But let’s lump ’em together.

I am curious about two things from Arnab’s recent posts:
–Name 2, 3 good action films that people here won’t know. Then try to say why.
[I was glad to see Michael clarify why “Wolf” wasn’t good, since I’d forgotten. (And I’d note: Arnab, I did see it in the theaters. It was good to watch for about ten minutes, then…. see what Michael said. And THAT said, watch the thing again and come back and tell us why we’re wrong.)]

–I can think of any number of films that, like “Funny Games,” ostensibly show how the audience’s pleasures in violence should be challenged. I can’t think of one that works, that doesn’t arouse the wrong passions, that doesn’t thrill. Are there any successful anti-violence films? (I recall, vaguely, that Truffaut said you can’t make an anti-war film; the medium sensationalizes, is about arousing sensations in the viewer…)

Continue reading Action and Violence

Cartoons

3 quick points and/or questions:
1. I have the Looney Tunes Golden Collection, which on occasion I pull down and relish. Today I got it out for Max. My god I forgot how blisfully violent they are; we watched “Scaredy Cat,” and there’s a fine little scene where Sylvester, terrified of some angry mice, wants to stay upstairs with Porky, but Porky kicks him out. So Sylvester goes to a drawer and grabs a gun, which he holds up to his head, threatening suicide. Now that is comedy my friends. Max loved it. (Porky then opens the gun and drops the bullets all over the floor.)

2. We also got him “Bambi.” I’m leery of most Disney stuff, but this one sticks in my head from childhood. I recall a drive-in, pajamas, it starting to rain toward the end of the film. (So, as fire erupts in the forest, it’s pouring outside my window…) God the animation is amazing. And every time the stag made his regal entrance, up above the action, it recalled very precisely shots from Miyazaki’s “Princess Mononoke.”

3. Has anyone seen “Steamboy”? I was convinced by a friend here to seeing Miyazaki, and he was right; this friend also bought me “Akira,” which I admire but I don’t love. So… should I bother with “Steamboy?”

programming note

okay, so i had some time on my hands and mucked around a little–it is possible that i have fixed the password retrieval thingy. does someone want to help me test it? to do so, log out (you’ll have to click login first to see the “logout” button). then click “login” again and initiate the retrieval process. wait for the email, try that password. if it doesn’t work email me. if it does work, go into your profile and reset it to something you’d prefer.

Lisboa/Sergi Lopez

I watched a reasonable but not-great Spanish noir called “Lisboa”. Really good cast (Carmen Maura, Federico Luppi from Men with Guns) with the standout star Sergi Lopez. The film itself, again, is mediocre: a traveling porn salesman–and, note to Mark, that may be the color of your parachute, my job-seeking friend–runs into a woman on the run, dreadful husband and family in pursuit. Will the salesman act, will he be moral, will he save her… or… well, it’s a noir film. So you guess.

But Lopez is what I wanted to post about. Damn, the guy can act. In “Dirty Pretty Things” I’m told he spoke his lines (in English) phonetically, yet he oozes a smug confident sleaze. In “With a Friend Like Harry,” he burns a hole in the screen–his eyes are just a little too close together, and they brim with possibilities going on behind whatever dialogue he’s been given. Lopez looks unassuming–he looks short on film, so in person he’s probably 2′3″. And he’s a bit lumpy. And he slouches. And yet I’d say he’s one of the most seductive presences on film today. The guy can act…

funny games

mike mentioned this in the “time of the wolf” discussion–an earlier film by the same director–and it recently washed to the top of my netflix queue (i keep finding excuses for not watching “hidalgo” but i can’t bring myself to remove it from the queue). we watched it tonight. i liked it but don’t quite know why. i’m guessing this film is trying to make audiences question (acknowledge?) their relationship to cinematic violence. of course it is trapped in being exactly what it critiques and its pleasures finally are those of the genre it seems to want to make the viewer feel bad about enjoying. i am too tired to think of anything smarter to say about it–mike, please tell me why i liked it.