NJAFBIT: 500 Days of Summer

WHY I'M INTERESTED: Good cast, great looking soundtrack. A former music video director at the helm. A few good reviews that peaked my interest. That'll do the trick. (Although, I'm really praying that Joseph Gordon-Levitt has not morphed into the second coming of Keanu Reeves.) I'm a sucker for Zooey D., anyway. Bigtime. What can I say.

This is flirting dangerously close to "too close for comfort." Maybe it will put my summer in perspective. Maybe it won't.

PREDICTION: Whatever. I'm seeing it.

RELEASE DATE: 7/17/09

LOG: The Merry Gentleman

If Die Hard is a Christmas movie (a claim which I now reluctantly accept,) then The Merry Gentleman is as well. But that's not all it is. It's also a romance, a cop movie, and a pretty damned good Chicago movie, too. And it's got Micheal Keaton! 'Nuff said?

The easy gravitas and charm of Micheal Keaton simply cannot be overstated. He is a five star actor, and although his widow's peak has slowly inched back into a kind of Mohawk over the past few years, his panache remains as fresh and fun as ever, even when he is saddled (as here) by a role which in and of itself demands that his performance be almost wooden. It's a joy to watch and listen to him. He's one of the best.

The Merry Gentleman also has the distinction of being Keaton's directorial debut, and as such, it's a pretty sound success, with a few minor caveats. It's hard to say if Keaton deliberately limited his screen time as some sort of ill-advised, self-deprecating directorial choice or if it was simply a symptom of the script, but I wanted more of him in this film. Also, Keaton executes a couple of bafflingly strange camera movements and scene progressions. But certainly no one could accuse him of not taking chances, and indeed a lot of the flourishes he goes with work quite nicely. Watching Keaton in the few films in which he has appeared in the last five or so years, a big part of me wishes that he would just reach back, one more time, and let loose to become again the bonafide movie star he once was. His sparse appearances are unbecoming of his massive talent. But I have resolved to take what I can get.

I can sympathize with some of the review judgments of this film as too sappy, too somber. It certainly can be both, in spots. Though it does fall prey to a few of the more annoying indie-flick trends of the moment (minor spoiler alert: the "thoughtfully ambiguous loose-string ending" is employed here once again, maddeningly.) But it's hard to get too upset at this film, which has quite a lot going for it. To it's credit, it never prods for emotions it doesn't earn. And anyway, it's a lousy target to pick to bemoan the ever-present tide of indie flicks where no one ever smiles (I could think of a few far better choices.) The film redeems itself very well with its unstylized, believable and interesting portraits. Especially interesting is newcomer Tom Bastounes, who plays his very juicy part (as a cop involved in the investigation of a murder) like a young Joe Mantegna. Kelly MacDonald too does a fine job with her lovably distant Scottish emigre, alone and vulnerable in the big city.

Very worthy of a watch, The Merry Gentleman should transition especially well to the small screen, where the (admittedly) gloomy tone will feel a little less claustrophobic. See it for Keaton. There is no better reason. All the rest is icing.

Gran Torino

Walt Kowalski in Gran Torino could be your dad. He sure is mine, or some version of mine, anyway. And if he's not your dad, he's your friends dad, or your girlfriend's dad. Trust me. He loves his dog, not his kids. His house is cleaner than it needs to be. Everything is organized and arranged just-so. He uses arcane expletives. Takes great pride in his lawn. And he's got a souped-up old car in the garage that he never drives. Sounding familiar yet? Perfectly rounding out this laser-etched archetype, Walt is a man filled up to the brim with a vaguely defined hatred of just about everything he encounters in his daily life. His kids and grand kids have been spoiled by his meager success and are now too busy for him. His neighbors, whom he calls 'gooks' and 'zipperheads' (as if those were still the preferred slurs even amongst racists..) are immigrants from Laos with a strange way of life that he tells himself he has no tolerance for or interest in. And his wife (whom we do not have the pleasure of meeting in Gran Torino,) has just died. Walt is a man isolated with his own rage.

The film opens on a cookie cutter Catholic funeral, one like we've all been to, where the Pastor has nothing new or extraordinary to impart, and everyone knows it, but plays along in some kind of vague spirit of honoring the dead, even as the kids fumble with their video games, and the adults mumble quietly to themselves about it all. Walt stands up front, greeted passively by each visitor, seething with resentment. He sees the moment for what it is; an empty ritual more useful for assuaging the guilt of the attendees than for condoling his loss. From here, we begin our journey with Walt, which will end up in unexpected and barely believable places. Walt will do things that ordinary men, even desperate, challenged or 'brave' ordinary men, do not do in today's world. And we, the audience, will lap it all up. Why? Because Walt is played by Clint Eastwood.

In anyone else's hands, Gran Torino would probably be dismissed as just a bit too drama-by-numbers. A bit too easy and a bit too safe. But in Eastwood's, it's a portrait of a generation. HIS generation? Clint's charms, even at 79 years old (which he will be at the end of this month) are many. In Gran Torino, he growls a lot, and his scowl, decades removed from his Spaghetti-western roots, is as gruesome and gnarly as ever. Even all these years later, Eastwood is still delighting in his badassness. He's the "Last Cowboy," and he knows it. But lest we forget, Clint is also a cultured man, and he has let in show more and more in recent years. A lover of music, particularly jazz, Eastwood has hopped into and out of various genres in his career, ever since his white-knuckle directorial debut Play Misty For Me. Mystic River in 2003 proved a milestone, earning numerous awards and a renewed interest in his filmmaking, as well as signaling a shift towards the more bracing, "serious" dramas he continues to produce. His films since have not disappointed, and Gran Torino proves to be no exception.

Walt is a reverse-Peter Pan, a fully grown-up man who refuses to grow up into any other kind of man. Or does he? (dot dot dot... the film plays on.) About halfway through Gran Torino, glugging down a Tsing Tao, now slowly warming to the affections of his immigrants neighbors, Clint/Walt lets his guard down and cracks a smile. So it's the 'old bastard with the heart of gold' story, right? Fine, but should we really swallow that pill so easily? We have by now come to grips with the nature and implications of Walt's various ill-defined hatreds and prejudices. Some are bullshit, just talk and nothing more. Some are very real, very deserved, and totally logical. And so we, as viewers, must allow ourselves a moment to determine for ourselves if we really can excuse Walt these myriad imperfections. But before we can muster up our argument, we are swept up into some unpleasantly violent circumstances, which of course serve to hammer home the "we're all in this together,' flag-waving banner that Gran Torino seems to have no qualms about shoving down our throat.

Maybe Eastwood doesn't apologize for Walt. But true to his Hollywood roots, Clint can't resist a few hilariously easy and uber-schmaltzy pock shots to tug at the heartstrings. A true blue entertainer, just givin' us what we want. But in the process, the 'message' one might take from Gran Torino loses most of its credibility. Are we are allowed to ponder how all this relates to Clint himself? To the characters he has made a living playing for 50 years? To Dirty Harry? If I had to guess, seeing as Eastwood himself has never been necessarily averse to change, enduring at least three career 'revivials' and reinventions, I would say that Eastwood is not 100% sympathetic to Walt. Walt is a man, a part of a generation, who's lives, actions and demeanors might just have been influenced by the tough-as-nails portrayals of such characters as Clint practically invented. In this way, Gran Torino can be cautiously viewed as some sort of back-handed denouement, a conscience-clearing admission on the part of Eastwood that being a cranky, snarling son-of-a-bitch is only as good as the baggage you bring along to it. But didn't he already handle that in Unforgiven?

In the end, as an entertainment, Gran Torino is a complete success and a film to relish, even though Eastwood (and screenwriters Nick Schenk and Dave Johansson) mostly just hint at the real emotions at play in these very real scenarios. When push comes to shove (and, in Gran Torino, it very literally does,) Walt just wants what's right in the world. Or so we are led by the hand to believe. It's worth asking why these emotions had laid dormant in Walt for so long. Why, in fact, he gives what he gives, when he gives it, to his sons, to his Pastor, and to Tao, the neighbor's young son whom he takes under his wing. And whether or not any of that is actually OK. But Gran Torino doesn't approach these details. It offers only the things we want to see, the things we WANT to believe about Walt. Perhaps even about our own fathers. And, let's be fair; Eastwood never did play no angel, did he?

Make no mistake, this is not realism, and not fantasy. It's Hollywood, Eastwood style. Where boys become men, and men.. are men. Everybody learns their 'valuable lesson,' and Walt (and Clint) have their last laugh, their scripted version of 'justice,' all the way up to the films laughably corny ending moment. And then, the credits roll.

Whatever you say, Clint. You nutty-ass Mick bastard. Tell me another one.


(note: I am well aware that I am writing reviews of movies on this site that are already well past the sights of the movie reviewer world. There is a multi-faceted explanation for this: 1.) It takes me a while to catch up to these movies, sometimes. 2.) I like the idea of being able to review something a little bit past it's buzz-generating opening. I like to let the dust settle and then see what I see. So.. stay tuned for my review of Iron Man! (you think I'm kidding..)

CLICK HERE

Blue Collar Film Scholar will be on semi-temporary hiatus as I wrap up my semester at school and continue sorting through bags, boxes and totes. So, in the meantime:





The Substance of Style

I had been planning for some time to write a piece entitled "In Defense of Wes Anderson" for this site, but Mr. Zoller Seitz does a pretty damn good job here. (Also - GOD DAMN IT I WANT AN AMBERSONS DVD. I WANT IT. YOU GIVE IT.) Watch all five parts. Will somebody give this guy a show on IFC or something? Speaking of which:


Green Porno

Issabella Rossellini is a freaky, hilarious chick. Watch both seasons. It'll take like twenty minutes.

"If I were a firefly, I would light up my ass at night..."


Not Again: 24 Films Too Painful To Watch Twice

This is old, but I somehow stumbled onto it recently. I'm glad I'm not the only one who doesn't have the balls (or the stomach) to put in Requiem again. It just sits there on my DVD shelf, menacingly. (PS- A.V. Club is the real deal.)


Criterion Collection: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Benjamin Button gets the Criterion treatment right out of the box. The first since "The Life Aquatic," I believe.

Thinking back on this film, I remember quite a bit, and this release especially has me excited to revisit it. The women in this film were remarkable. Tilda Swinton probably gives the best performance in the film, as she so often does (see: Michael Clayton,) and Blanchett too was memorable. So what if it's Forrest Gump? I liked Forrest Gump. Didn't you? (Also, for the requisite 8 pages of "OMG wHy iS TCCOBB oN cRiteeeRiON?" click HERE.)


Where the Wild Things Are

In place of a full NJAFBIT posting, click here to check out the trailer for Spike Jonze's Where the Wild Things Are. Best trailer song ever? It works fantastically well. This trailer is awesome, and Jonze has never made a bad movie (they're.. *cough..* both good.) Nuff said. This is a twenty-something indie-kid's Halloween wet dream. These damned hipster filmmakers just refuse to force us all to grow up. (Early contender for trailer of the year. Last years winner was Pineapple Express, btw.)

in the pipeline: LOG on The Relic. Seriously. Check back often!

LOG: The Reader

Upon entering my local, neighborhood cheap (*AHEM* 'second run') theater this evening, I was struck with a dilemma; I had purchased my ticket for Doubt at 9:40, but found that The Reader was also playing at 9:45. I paused between the two theaters a moment, and weighed my options. Two hand-wringing dramas, neither of which figured to hold me a very captive audience. After a bit of thought, I decided that even the vaguest prospect of hot-and-heaviness courtesy of Kate Winslet was enough to undo my admittedly weak desire to watch Streep and Seymour-Hoffman act it up, Nazi subplot be damned

Well, I got my hot-and-heaviness. And I also got a by-the-numbers literary adaptation, co-starring that most by-the-numbers actor of them all, Ralph Fiennes. Even its most moving moments were badly contrived. Winslet does a nice job with her haggish, slightly sexy hausfrau, no question, but that whole Nazi business just felt tacked on. More than once I wondered if I had picked the right movie.. but I'm pretty confident I did. I'd rather watch Winslet over-compensate for an underwritten role then watch the Doubt folks do it the other way around.

I left as I entered, unenthused, unmoved, and ready to go home. A glance at the "coming soon" posters, however, with such future presentations as Milk and Coraline, was just enough to lift my spirits.. Indeed, thankfully, there will be better days.

NJAFBIT: Inglorious Basterds

WHY I'M INTERESTED:

You gotta hand it to Brad Pitt; he's making it almost impossible to hate him these days. Realistically, if you look at his output as a whole, he's pretty much ALWAYS been in cool movies. It's easy to forget how many. Since his breakout in Thelma & Louise (itself nothing to scoff at,) he's bounced from Cool World to Kalifornia, to Se7en, to Fight Club, to last years fantastic Burn After Reading and Benjamin Button, never going more than a couple years without appearing in something great. He's co-starring with (WTF?) Mike Myers, straight off his blockbuster star-making turn in The Love Guru.

The trailer shows shades of both Tarantino's lamer side (Pitt's lousy, boring monologue,) and awesome side (some fun, Kill Bill-ish action moments.) Worth betting that both sides will turn up in the finished film, but in what proportion, who can say. The problem I'm having more and more with QT movies is my inability to just listen to what these people are saying, without picturing it coming from the mouth of QT himself. This is the major problem with outspoken, wordy filmmakers (ie. Kevin Smith, et al.)

But, much as I may try to resist, I end up seeing every Tarantino movie in the theater. He is one of the defining filmmakers of our generation, and I tend to give him the benefit of the doubt until he gives me reason to think otherwise. For a 'teaser,' this gives a pretty damn good indication of what we will be getting. I'm intrigued enough not to immediately dismiss it.

PREDICTION: Imperfect, funny, weird, awkward.

RELEASE DATE: 8/21/09

LOG: Targets

Boris Karloff is, and will ever be, my favorite actor. I love him. He had the greatest voice, and one of the greatest presences in all of the movies. Targets was, by all accounts, his last important (read: good) film, finished and released less than a year before he would succumb to emphysema-related pneumonia at age 81. Famous names surround the production; Roger Corman produced, and Bogdanovich took the script to Sam Fuller for some uncredited rewrites. Karloff made $22,000 dollars for appearing in this film, refusing to accept pay for the additional time he worked (past the 2 days he owed Corman from a previous commitment.)

I could sing the praises of Bogdo all day long, but mostly as they relate to his excellent writing abilities. As a filmmaker, apart from this and The Last Picture Show, his output borders on dreadful, and in recent years he has retreated into menial acting jobs. But he is an ever-present, if oft-maligned, force on DVD and in film scholarship, and I say let him talk.

If Targets isn't a masterpiece, it's because the parallel plot lines (1- Karloff as washed up horror star, 2- Young man goes on rifle-fed killing spree) don't necessarily pair all that well. But they do pair well enough intellectually that you can concede the idea of the film, particularly knowing the restrictions that Bogdo had handed down to him from Corman. As meta-Karloff, the film succeeds, but only because Karloff was exactly the kind of man who could own up to the biographical aspects of Bogdo's script. When Boris is not on screen, however, the film suffers badly. What would you expect?

Putting what you know will be considered your film 'epitaph' in the hands of a young, unproven director? That's just Karloff doing what he always did- being the greatest professional of his time.

Strangely, this DVD has gone out of print. It's a gem at it's original $5.99 asking price (I think I bought it at a K-mart.)

NJAFBIT: Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li

WHY I'M INTERESTED:

Well folks, you certainly don't need me to tell you that 2009 is looking grim. But what you might not know is that it's looking awfully grim in the movie world as well. Even after we endure the annual pre-Oscar famine currently plaguing multiplexes, the horizon still looks dreadfully bleak. So bleak, in fact, that there is not a single movie currently announced that I can get excited about until May 29th (Pixar's Up). But hey, what's this... a Street Fighter movie..?!?

Chances are you forgot about 1994's original Street Fighter, perhaps as an act of self-mercy. To refresh your memory, it featured Raul Julia and JCVD hamming it up in what turned out to be the first ripple of water in a tidal wave of crappy retro video game-turned-movie cash grabs. This time, Michael Clarke-Duncan leads a cast of nobodies, including Hinsdale's own Chris Klein (not heard from since his sparkling lead turn in Rollerball,) who has amazingly not yet commited suicide even after his fiancee dumped him and briskly went on to spawn the demonseed of Tom Cruise.
Director Andrzej Bartkowiak, who was actually the DOP on a few semi-prestigious pictures, made the leap to directing about ten years ago and promptly fell into a ditch, first directing that legendary thespian DMX three times (THREE TIMES) and then moving up the ladder to guide The Rock through another ten-years-too-late video game adaptation (Doom.)

But, let's keep things in perspective. We beggars must not be too choosy. It's gonna be desperately slim pickings for a couple months, kiddos. We've got a couple groan-worthy horror remakes, a massive heap of lame looking at best comedies, and.. this. Sadly, horribly, we might actually end up seeing this. Will it suck? Oh yes, it will suck (not a good sign: the film's "blog" has not been updated since June..) But hey, if it sucks in a good way, then at least we know we can look forward to the super-secret He-Man and Voltron adaptations that are supposedly being penned as we speak by the same writer.. (GULP)

PREDICTION:
The ultimate test of "so bad it's good."

RELEASE DATE: February 27th

My Year at the Movies: 2007

Yes, you read that right. I have decided to do my "Year in Reviews" one year late. I find that a year of hindsight affords films some much deserved time to age, settle in in your brain and be reflected on with the benefit of hindsight. So, without further ado, in five sentences or less each and in chronological order, my take on 2007 at the movies.

Pursuit of Happyness

Grade: C+

A feel good story. I remember being impressed with his son's performance. Other than that, I draw a blank.







Children of Men

Grade: A+

I was floored by this in the theater. Amazing action, design and vibe. It has held up well on repeat viewings. It's like Spielberg but with a very artful touch. Perhaps not an 'important' movie but about as good as one can be without any super-serious pretensions.






Volver

Grade: A

My first Almodovar in the theater. Penelope Cruz is so vibrant and so sexy. So fun to watch. I could watch this right now.







Inland Empire

Grade: A+

Best movie experience of the year, and the best film that I saw. Showed at the Music Box Theater, with introduction and Q & A by David Lynch. Favorite moment- Q: "What is it about?" A: "It's on the poster." Read my review HERE.






Pan's Labyrinth

Grade: A-

Thoroughly enjoyable, and Del Toro's best yet. The night I went to see this, I was dealing with some serious bad news. A nice way to take my mind off. Maybe not the pitch-perfect masterpiece is was made out to be, but very strong and very successful nonetheless.





El Topo

Grade: A

Another night at the Music Box. Brilliant and bizarre. I'm convinced Jodorowsky is just a lunatic, and this film means nothing, but it is so damn fun to watch.







Zodiac

Grade: B++ (edit: A+)

Much like There Will Be Blood, this was a film whose greatness crept up on me. Fincher is building quite a body of work these days, and here he crafts another truly great crime movie.







Grindhouse

Grade: B- (Planet Terror/Trailers B+/A, Death Proof D)

A sadly failed experiment by capable filmmakers. At the time, I enjoyed Planet Terror quite a bit, and hated Death Proof. Now, I couldn't tell you one thing that happens in Planet Terror, but I do remember the chase 'scene' (if you can call 45 minutes a scene..) in Death Proof. Call it a wash, I guess.


Drawing Restraint 9

Grade: A+

Indescribable and wonderful. Bjork and Matthew Barney on a creepy whaling ship, engaging in some strange rituals. Underwater seashell flesh carving, anyone? Yes, please. I understand his motivations, but it's a travesty that these are not available on video.






Hot Fuzz

Grade: A-

Hilarious. Major Wicker Man vibe was off-putting at first, but it works. Maybe not as great as Shaun of the Dead. But what is?








Rescue Dawn

Grade: B+(!)

A superfluous film, but a good superfluous film. Herzog, sadly, announces the twilight phase of his career. I'm over it, and he's gone on to better (and also much worse) things.







Killer of Sheep

Grade: A+

Music Box again. This time in the little room. This release will surely realign this film's place in history, as it should. Need to check out more Burnett.






Ratatouille

Grade: A-

Pixar continues their unparalleled run of absolute greatness. Patton Oswald makes some real money. The world rejoices. People get tired of saying "Pixar has topped themselves." They would officially give up in 2008 thanks to a movie about a robot.

30 Days of Night

Grade: D

Great idea for a horror movie. Worst execution imaginable. Danny Huston is sadly reduced to playing a brooding blood-sucker with a fake accent in a trendy eurotrash suit. Then they lock him up in the local jail. Such total crap. How sad.

The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D

Grade :o)

$15 well spent. Obviously, the movie is a legend. The 3D was impressive and really cool. This could become a fun technology. Any reason to get the kiddies to actually care about what is on the screen is good enough for me. (Now, Coraline, please don't let me down.)

The Darjeeling Limited

Grade: A+

Thank you, Wes Anderson. In a world where filmmakers let you down again and again (M. Night Shamalan,) you stay true. I will defend you to the end.

Across the Universe

Grade: B

I don't know. Maybe I expected too much. But Moulin Rouge it ain't. Eddie Izzard provides some of the year's strangest on-screen mugging. See my review HERE.

"Blade Runner: Final Cut" A,

My first digitally projected film (at Muvico Rosemont,) and WOW. Particularly for a film released in 1982. Eye-popping.

"Curse of the Demon" A

Jacque Tourneur's neglected monster movie. Showed at Gene Siskel, with introduction and afterword by Jonathan Rosenbaum. Worthy of the Lewtons, if maybe just barely.






2008 advance preview:

Looking back on my year at the movies in 2007, I would have to say unequivocally that 2008's offerings were superior in every way (in point of fact, however, I saw two films technically released in 2007 second-run in 2008.) Hope you got to the theater in 2008, folks. With things being the way they are in the world, 2009 could be some seriously rough sailing. But, if there ever was a recession-proof business, it's the movies. Here's hoping we get some good efforts in theaters to take our mind off things. Suddenly, $9.50 a ticket doesn't sound so bad.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Full Reviews -
Long-form reviews of films.

Log -
Screening Log. Short (often very short) reviews.

NJAFBIT -
Stands for "Never Judge a Flick By It's Trailer." A lousy acronym. I could spell it out, but that might be even lousier. These are reviews of trailers, and musings upcoming films.

My Year at the Movies -
Annual rundown of the films I saw "last year." Meaning, one year ago (i.e., I wrote about my year at the movies in 2008 at the end of 2009.) I do this because I find that a year of hindsight makes all the difference in the world in assessing movies. And because I think it's funny.

Idiot Ego -
Reviews which were written for the (now sadly defunct) Elgin-area Music & Arts 'zine Idiot Ego. The captain of that ship was Mr. Jim Miller, who is now occuiped in other, equally worthwhile pursuits. (SEE: Cassette Deck Media.)

THE DVD -
DVD reviews. I think there is only one. Maybe there will be more?

Essays -
Other stuff, usually long-form, that pertains to movies.

On Second Thought -
Re-reviews of films I did not initially like upon their release. Only a couple here as well, but I like this idea, so hopefully more will follow.

ALSO:

7-7-7 -
This was meant to be the chronicle of a seven day straight movie marathon I did in December '09. It's not finished yet. Hopefully it will be. For better or worse.

Screen Shots -
Actually photographs (from my iPhone 3GS,) of movie screens. Lame? I don't know. It seemed like a good idea at the time. However, I am always leery of holding up a camera in a movie theater. Don't need to go to prison.