Review: Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Woody Allen's latest is a fiery and sexy film about love and lust with a stellar cast more than suited for Allen's classic neurotic, smart, sophisticated, intelligent and distinctively adult dialogue.  Barcelona provides a seductive backdrop for this tale mixed with bohemian free love and more uptight New York sensibilities.  It's a film that dives deep into the spirit of love and sex and what it means to follow your hearts desires.  Love isn't sensible in any way and Allen's script illustrates this perfectly by portraying two completely different leading ladies who both fall for the same man.  This man happens to be Juan Antonio, a passionate painter who propositions Vicky and Cristina (childhood friends) to a weekend of food, wine, sights and sex in a neighboring Spanish island.  From there the two women's life styles clash with one another and their surroundings as they begin to fall in love with this wild and sexy bohemian spirit. 

What makes this set-up so interesting is that the casting is so pitch perfect.  Vicky, portrayed by Rebecca Hall, plays the uptight neurotic New York woman.  She's intelligent and stuffy and at times you have a feeling that she is playing the Woody Allen role in the film.  It's refreshing seeing this role go to a woman instead of a man and it shows that Allen's neuroses are pretty universal and are not defined by sex or gender.  Hall gives the role some nuances that are missing from most "Allen" roles, especially in the second half of the film when her heart is pulled by both what she knows is right and what she knows could lead to disaster. Cristina is played by Allen's latest muse, Scarlett Johansson.  In Allen's past films I felt he never really knew how to use Johansson appropriately.  In Match Point (a film I loved) she was used as the sex pot, but with her manish voice and slightly typical looks it was a strange choice.  In the end you bought into it because there is something remarkably different about Johanson when compared to most other women working in film today.  In Scoop she was supposed to be plucky and comic, but the film suffered due to her unconvincing performance.  But here as the would be free spirit with conflicting emotions, she works quite well.  Cristina doesn't know what she wants out of life and simply goes wherever the wind takes her and then later quickly discovers she may have made a mistake. She is the perfect catalyst to explore the films central conflict, which is between Juan Antonio and his ex-wife...

Javier Bardem is PERFECTLY cast as the painter Juan Antonio with the broken heart and misguided notions about love.  In fact, I have never seen Bardem be so charismatic and lighthearted as he is here.  It's just such a relaxed and, here comes that word again, SEXY performance.  Sitting in the theater I couldn't help but fall in love with Juan Antonio myself.  But it is his ex-wife played to perfection by Penelope Cruz who pulls the rug out from under everyone.  Cruz is on fire as the passionate, yet crazed ex-wife who is still very much in love with her ex-husband.  I have always thought Cruz was an actress with potential who has just never quite gotten there, but here she really makes it work.  From her first scene to her last you can see the layers of vulnerability going on with this character and the intense passion that lies beneath her weathered exterior.  It's a great performance and it comes in at just the right point in the film when things start to slow down a bit to throw some much needed spice into the mix.

The film is expertly photographed Javier Aguirresarobe who makes the city of Barcelona a character within the film inhabiting almost every single frame.  Allen always manages to work with some of the best foreign cinematographers and Barcelona is no exception.  Combine this with Allen's best and most insightful script since Hannah and Her Sisters and his own sure-fired direction - what you have is one of the best films of the year.  

Much has been said about how in recent films Allen has lost his way as a filmmaker.  My response to this is that Allen never lost his way... in fact I believe we have lost ours.  Allen has always been a classic filmmaker inspired by foreign directors such as Godard and Bergman and his filmmaking style has reflected that.  He has always written adult scripts with high-brow dialogue and an old fashioned sense of narrative.  And we as an audience were always willing to accept this all the way through his 1980's work.  But once we got to the 90's audience patience for Allen's sense of comedy and the way he wanted to tell a story began to wane.  Now in the 2000's we have almost no patience for it at all.  We are so used to high concept, little substance Hollywood types of films that we cannot even begin to comprehend a film that relies so much on people simply talking.  And there is a lot of dialogue in most of Allen's films.  Allen matured as a filmmaker throughout the 70's and 80's, but once he hit the 90's he found his style and voice and he hasn't deterred from it's since and we have grown tired of it.  But Allen's filmmaking is so pure and simple it reminds one of how movies used to be made and what movies used to be about - story and character.  We as moviegoers have largely forgotten about these two things instead focusing on flashy camera moves, big special effects, sex and violence to carry us through.  I'm not defending all of Allen's films, but if you look at his filmography of late I would say his work in the 2000's is on par with what he did in the 90's.  Think about it, in the 90's he gave us Bullets Over Broadway and Husbands and Wives.  Two of his best films.  He also gave us Manhattan Murder Mystery and Mighty Aphrodite, which is on par with Small Time Crooks and Hollywood Ending form this decade. Critics tend to be unfairly cruel to Allen when he makes a movie these days.  But he makes one film a year and sometimes even two.  Not all of them are going to be masterpieces... but look at the masterpieces he has given us - Annie Hall, Manhattan, Broadway Danny Rose, Hannah and Her Sisters, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Bullets Over Broadway, and Husbands and Wives.  Now look at the GREAT movies he has given us - Sleeper, Interiors, Zelig, Radio Days, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Deconstructing Harry, Sweet and Lowdown, Match Point and now Vicky Cristina Barcelona.  Any director would kill to have that many good films in his/her filmography.  So in short, lay off Woody Allen people. The man deserves respect as an artist.  And go see Vicky Cristina Barcelona.  One of the best films of the year.

Review: Tropic Thunder

Ben Stiller's new comedy is at times a scathing satire on the Hollywood Movie Industry, at times a vulgar laced gross out comedy, and at other times a politically incorrect commentary, but it is always, if nothing else, ambitious.  In fact, Tropic Thunder is probably the most ambitious comedy to come out of Hollywood in a very long time.  I'm actually pretty amazed that the studio had the balls to release it un-cut considering it rips Hollywood to shreds while managing to offend African Americans, mentally and physically handicapped people, not to mention veterans and Asians. But Tropic Thunder pushes the audience's buttons for a reason - it wants us all to see how ridiculous movie stars, directors, producers, agents, studios, and even the people who pay to go see the movies really are.  Gays, mentally handicapped (or retards as the film so lovingly refers to them), and African Americans are all food for fodder because of how sensitive we always treat these issues and how Hollywood continuously exploits them, consciously or not.  Tropic Thunder doesn't always work, but when it does it's hilariously insightful.  At the midnight screening I went to there were some people getting upset by the films racier material... they clearly were missing the point.  Tropic Thunder is not your typical Hollywood comedy, it's a satire of everything we love and hate about the Industry.

What makes much of Tropic Thunder special is that nobody is trying to steal anyone else's thunder (forgive me).  The cast works especially well as an ensemble, which is hard to believe given the in your face talent involved here including Ben Stiller (the king of camera mugging), Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr. (who can steal a movie from almost anyone), Mathew McConaughey, Steve Coogan, Nick Nolte, and last but not least Tom Cruise.  Yes, you read that right... Tom Cruise.  And what is most surprising is that Tom Cruise ALMOST runs away with the whole movie.  He is genuinely funny and terrifying in his role as a Hollywood executive hidden away in his bunker making and breaking deals.  I've always been a fan of Tom Cruise and what makes this performance so memorable is how he (for the first time in a while) isn't taking himself seriously.  He completely lets go and inhabits this disgusting character and plays against his Hollywood image.  It's the best thing he has done in years and his screen time is just enough that it does not become overbearing.  If the movie had been bad I would have said it was worth it just to see him in this against type extended cameo... but the movie is pretty great.  

The performance everyone has been talking about is Robert Downey Jr. as Kirk Lazarus, an Aussie method actor who undergoes pigmentation surgery in order to play an African American.  You can believe the hype on this one folks. Downey is as funny as everyone has been saying and he does marvelous things with this controversial and juicy character.  What makes him avoid being a complete caricature is that Lazarus the actor is compelling and it's not that far of a stretch to see someone going to this kind of extreme for a role.  Method actors are praised for their ethic and this film satirizes the kind of love and adoration we bestow upon them.  If you really look deep down at what it is they are doing... it's pretty ridiculous and Downey exhibits this aspect of the character perfectly.  There are great moments when he himself reflects on the fact that he doesn't know why he is still in character.  He does it because he's always done it.  But what makes the performance even funnier is that this supposed great actor, Lazarus, clearly hasn't done any of his homework and instead relies on stereotypes to play an African American.  It's really funny stuff and Downey shines in the role.  He is having one hell of a year with this and Iron Man.  He still has the Soloist coming up toward years end.  I think Heath Ledger has met his biggest competition when it comes Oscar time...

Not everything in Tropic Thunder works despite the great comedic performances.  The humor here is all over the place and some of it just comes off as sophomoric.  Stiller's stint in the jungle by himself is hampered by the actors usual bag of tricks which are very been there done that.  Some of the supporting players over do it and chew through their dialogue rather than just deliver it.  Mathew McConaughey's character in theory is funny and even perhaps on the page, but on screen it just doesn't work as well as it should.  Though his casting is pretty inspired and right on the money.  And the films climax is chaotic and clunky.  But even in the moments when I wasn't really digging what was going on I still couldn't hold it against the film.  Tropic Thunder is wildly ambitious and because of that it is infectious on its audience.  You just cant help but be awed by how audacious it really is.  There were several times when I stared at the screen and thought to myself..."did they really just go there?"  Tropic Thunder "goes there" several times throughout its two hour run time and it is well worth a trip to see it.

Review: Pineapple Express

Judd Apatow and his gang of comedic misfits have revolutionized the comedy genre within the past few years bringing out such instant classics as 40 Year old Virgin, Knocked Up, and most notably, the comedy that spoke to a new generation of film goers, Super Bad.  And while Pineapple Express contains some of the same charm and clever vulgar dialogue of the teams past productions it lacks cohesiveness and suffers from a much longer run time than needed.  Part of the blessing and the problem with Pineapple Express is director David Gordon Green.  He is a director of small independent dramas such as George Washington and All the Real Girls which have been instant hits with critics.  By bringing him onto this stoner buddy comedy the film gains a touch of class and at times realism.  But Green doesn't know how to counterbalance the stoner comedy aspect with the more outrageous elements in the film and with the constant switch back and forth from realistic situations to pure ridiculousness, it gets hard to handle.  The problem isn'tthat Green isn't a talented director, the problem is this is his first foray into this type of film and you can feel him floundering a bit.  He lets takes run on too long and lets the boys on screen indulge a bit too much in their high as a kite antics.  What he does do surprisingly well for someone who has no experience in this area is stage hilariously violent and over the top action sequences.  I'm assuming he either had an expert DP who knew how to shoot this shit on the set, or he spent a long hard time doing some studying and drawing up lots of storyboards (further investigation shows that the DP was Tim Orr who also has little to no experience shooting action).  But the action never feels staged, until the ending violent fight scene, in fact much of the time it feels sporadic and chaotic which only adds to the hilarity. 

Seth Rogen is a great comedic actor and though his work here is not half as honest as it was in Knocked Up, he is still able to make even the most outrageous situation seem plausible.  He's a great comic everyday guy and he is someone that is easy to relate to, plus his verbal skills onscreen always come through.  He's a lovable stoner, plain and simple.  The other leading man in the film is James Franco as the drug dealing Saul. Franco is a mixed bag in the film.   At times he is spot on with his characterization of a constantly high dope dealer.  But other times he gets a little self indulgent and that's when the picture starts to sag is when we have to sit through countless pot influenced conversations and antics that really lead nowhere.  It easily could have been a much more streamlined and cohesive picture if a good ten to fifteen minutes of unnecessary pot influenced scenes could have been taken out.  I'm sure pot lovers wont mind it much, but for an everyday audience member it gets old. I'm around pot smokers all the time and if I grow tired of them in real life, god knows I'm not going to be able to sit in a theater watching them act like retards when there is a plot I want to get to.  

And that's the other thing with Pineapple Express... there really isn't much plot which is why the film is filled with so much fluff.  It's essentially a chase picture with some interesting side characters.  But really that's all fine because it is an entertaining chase picture.  There are sequences in this film that had me laughing harder than perhaps I ever have, but then there were also scenes in equal measure that just had me shaking my head.  Pineapple Express is an uneven film, but it is funnier than almost anything else to come out this year and it is a welcome distraction after the heaviness that was The Dark Knight.  I recommend the film, but with some reservations.  This is definitely on the lower end of the Apatow comedy group's films, but it still worth a look if you need a good hearty laugh or two... or ten.

The Great Movie Musicals/The Films I love

I am going to start two new series here on the blog.  The first will be done randomly every so often and it will focus on the films that I consider to be great movie musicals.  This does not mean that they cannot be based on a stage musical, just that their transformation to film has to be something extraordinary and special.  Original film musicals will of course meet these demands as well.  The second series will be titled, The Films I love.  This series will hopefully be posted weekly and each week will feature a different film.  These films could be one or multiple things including films that I think are some of the greatest ever made, films that have had some kind of profound affect on me, films that I don't personally like all that much but are critically superior and thus make me as a film buff love them so, and of course the guilty pleasure films that I've loved since childhood.  I don't want this to be a pompous, look at my good taste series. Instead this series is going to be quite off the wall at times and may contain some unlikely choices for a "best films" list.  Today I am combining the two series together to talk about a film that I truly love for its vision and bold direction and for its musical aesthetic.  It is not only one of the greatest musicals I have ever seen, but also one of the best films I have ever seen.  It's name is Cabaret.

Cabaret is a film that I revisit often, perhaps once a year or so and each time I find it more and more fascinating. It refuses to fit itself into any particular genre whether it is a musical, political commentary, love story, or turbulent drama. It also defies convention by making its main character extremely unlikeable, but in the end you cant help but care for due to her childlike naivete. Cabaret is bold for its (at the time) frank depiction of a homosexual man caught in an unusual time and place in history. Bob Fosse's direction is spot on throughout the story and makes the wise choice to cut all songs out of the film that do not take place within the world of the Cabaret itself, save for one song - Tomorrow Belongs to Me. This number is both chilling and surprisingly relevant to what is happening in this very country today with the current administration and the rise of the Christian right. It successfully demonstrates how an entire country could be swept up by such nihilistic idealism. Liza Minnelli gives the performance of her career as sally and Joel Grey brings depth to the emcee who is mostly noted as a caricature in previous incarnations. His motives are the same - he commentates on events happening within the story - but here in this film he takes on eerie human qualities that set him apart from simply being the master of ceremonies. Still it is Michael York's often-overlooked performance as Brian that is the glue of the story. He provides warmth and true humanity in a setting where there is so little of both. For my money this is the best version of cabaret as all of its songs serve a direct purpose to the story and every plot point is distinct and fully developed. Cabaret has always been a strong story and it continually surprises people throughout the years because its relevance never dissipates - what happened could and probably will happen again.

Though much of Cabaret is a drama, that's not to say that the musical numbers are not spectacular.  On the contrary, they are some of the very best ever put on the screen.  And credit should be given to the legendary Bob Fosse who worked on Broadway for years as a dancer and choreographer before helming this picture.  Before Cabaret he directed the somewhat misguided but always stylish Sweet Charity.  It was a story that too had off color subject matter and frank depictions of human sexuality.  But it was a glitzy sixties movie with big dance numbers and stylized camera movements.  Cabaret is much more gritty and unattractive.  The Kit Kit Club (the cabaret itself) is not a homely place.  It is a dive filled with monstrous characters.  At the beginning of the film the Emcee invites us in exclaiming that "In here life is beautiful!", by the end of the story we see just how wrong he was.  Fosse's choreography and direction reflect this.  It's a realistic film with production numbers that don't try to rival Hollywood of old, but rather serve as a counterbalance to the human drama.  In time the numbers on stage become just as disturbing as whats happening in the world outside of the Cabaret.

Liza Minnelli is a brilliant singer and does her fare share of hoofing in this film as well, but it's her acting that really makes Sally a believable character.  This is not the heroine of your typical musical.   Sally is a drunk and a fiend.  She uses men to get by in life and by the end of the film she has completely destroyed herself and Brian.  When Minnelli has her onscreen breakdown after having the abortion and then minutes later is smiling and singing "life is a Cabaret ol' chum" you cant help but get a little sick to your stomach.  It's a disturbing performance because of how grounded in reality it is.  People have complained that Liza is too good of a singer and that there is no reason why Sally wouldn't be a star.  My argument would be that this Sally in particular is such a despicable person that she prevents herself from ever being a star.  She is on such a self destructive path and she simply doesn't know how to get off of the train.  Again it's a great performance and I would argue that it is more complex than Minnelli's mother, the great Judy Garland, ever did on screen.

What makes Cabaret such a unique film is that unlike most movie musicals adapted from stage musicals, it is a true ADAPTATION.  The film is very different from the play itself and I know many musical theater fans who despise the film because of it.  Bob Fosse's Cabaret is its own beast and I would argue that it is actually much better than the original production that hit Broadway.  It's two leads are much more fully realized and cinematically it gives Cabaret a scope on screen that it could never have had on the stage.  You really feel the rise of Nazism in the film version, whereas on stage it feels a little forced.  Tomorrow Belongs to Me is probably the film version of Cabaret's crowning achievement and the impact the song has on the stage version is quite minimal. I would like to see a film adaptation of the new revival version of Cabaret, because like Fosse's version it is a very different take on the story and it is even darker than the film.   

By taking out the superfluous numbers of the stage production and sticking to only the numbers that happen within the Cabaret, Fosse has concocted a dark commentary on Nazism, society, and show business. As a result he has given us one of the greatest musicals ever put on the screen.

Cabaret (1972)

Dir. Bob Fosse

124 Minutes

Nominated for 10 Academy Awards including Best Writing, Best Picture

Won 8 Academy Awards including Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Music Score Adaptation, and Best Sound.

Note of Interest: This was the same year that The Godfather won best picture, but Francis Ford Coppola lost out on Best Director to Bob Fosse and Al Pacino lost out on Best Supporting Actor to Joel Grey.  

In Bruges

In Bruges is a deliciously black comedy that is reminiscent of Pulp Fiction and Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, but has it's own unique charm, values and quirky dialogue to set it apart from other dark comedic crime pieces. It start Colin Farrell as a hitman who botched his first hit by accidentally killing a kid and he has now been sent away to the city of Bruges for a sort of twisted vacation. His partner in crime is played by Brendan Gleeson who is an experienced and educated gangster. He is much older and more weary of the world, but he is also a caring and fascinating individual. To put it simply these are two of the best performances that either one of these men have ever given. Gleeson is a great veteran character actor who only gets better with age and you may remember him from 28 Days Later, Braveheart, and the Harry Potter films to name only a few. Farrell is an actor I have never really been fond of but I have given him credit on a couple different occasions when I felt he deserved it most notably for his breakout film Tigerland and his one man showcase Phone Booth. Here Farrell is more relaxed than he has ever been in a role and he is charming and funny, but also surprisingly emotional. He brings great depth to a haunted and suicidal character.

The writing is what makes In Bruges quite special. It does not follow any specific formula and seldom if ever goes down a path that could have been predicted. It's dialogue is sharp, vulgar, but also quite comic. It is easily a script that could have taken itself very seriously, but in the hands of such great actors it springs to life vividly on the screen. In Bruges is at once a comedy, a crime story, a character study, and a piece on moral ambiguities. There is no real villain here and each of the people in the film have morals and principals. Even the supporting players are thief's, drug dealers, or in one case a drug addicted midget. But you come to care for these people because of how human they all really seem. The film was written and directed by famous playwright Martin McDonagh who is considered to be on the leading theater writers today. He has written such plays as The Pillowman and Lieutenant of an Inishmore. He has already won an Academy Award for his short film Six Shooter and this is his debut feature film. And it is quite a debut. McDonagh claims that most of his major influences come from film instead of the stage and they include Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, David Lynch and Terrence Malick. You can see pieces of each these men in the film, but McDonagh manages to have his own unique voice and style. He really knows how to tell and intriguing story. In Bruges's script is honestly one of the funniest and most original put on the screen in quite a long time.

And Last but not least props must be given to Ralph Fiennes, for his brief but completely memorable role as Harry the employer that shows up to off Farrell. He gives a ferocious performance and the way he uses vulgarity is altogether unique and inspired. He has some of the funniest scenes and lines in the movie although much of them are filled with violent carnage. His character alone could have its own spin-off film. In Bruges is one of the best films of the year so far and I will surly remember it come years end as there is guaranteed to not be a film even close to the originality of this one.

Brideshead Revisited

There are two inspired performances in the center of this uneven and misguided motion picture.  The first is that of the great Emma Thompson who plays Lady Marchmain.  She is a strict catholic woman who has been deemed a saint by her priest.  She believes that life revolves around god's will and essentially the film is about her corruption of her children and their ultimate downfall because of their Catholic faith.  Thompson plays that lady in question perfectly with quiet understated authority.  It's one of the best roles she's had in years, and it's a shame really because the film does not give her nearly enough screen time, though Thompson can say more with a simple stare than anymore pages of dialogue would have ever given her.  If the film would have relied on her a bit more, perhaps it would have seemed more even handed, or perhaps not.  The other performance of note in the film is that of Ben Whishaw playing Sebastian Flyte, the Lady's son.  Sebastian happens to be a homosexual and a rather flamboyant one at that, but is constantly reprimanded for his actions by his over protective mother.  Sebastian's flamboyant demeanor is all show as throughout the course of the film we come to realize he is a tortured individual battling many demons, the worst of which is his mother.  Whishaw gives the character a sympathetic and believable arc.  He starts the picture as a typical gay character and at first we believe him to be playing a caricature, but that's really the point.  He plays the part of his elegant lifestyle.  But as the film progresses and we begin to see the inner struggles of Sebastian we begin to care for him even as he drowns himself in alcohol eventually turning him into an emotional and physical cripple.  Whishaw's performance is possibly the most complex in the film  and he pulls it off marvelously.  The main problem with Brideshead Revisited comes once Sebastian has left the screen... you are left with no one to care about.  The lead character certainly leaves something to be desired as Charles Ryder, played by Mathew Goode, is simply a passive observer in all of these strange events.  He falls in love with Sebastian's sister, though Sebastian himself is in love with Charles.  Charles uses this people to live a life that he has never known, and by the time the third act roles around and Charles has found his own wealth, I was left wondering... why bother?  The story I was interested in was over because the only person I cared about in the film had left long ago.  

The beginning of Brideshead Revisted moves along at incredible speed as if the film isn't sure of itself and simply wants to get to the "meat" of the story.  It's a clumsy first act, we meet people who are never fully explained and this disappear for the rest of the picture.  The editing is fast and often times abrupt.  And the score gets in the way quite often as we are supposed to be feeling one thing, but the music is telling us something different entirely.  That being said, the second act of Brideshead is phenomenally well done and its a shame that the rest of the picture couldn't have been as intriguing.  Goode does a decent job with his character and whats been given to him on the page, but unfortunately the character is simply unlikeable.  We never really get to know him even though we spend the entire films running time beside Charles.  The ending of the film really plays up the religious angle, but at the end I was left wondering what the point of it all was.  The children's lives are essentially destroyed because of their mothers religious beliefs that she instilled in them from birth, but the end of the film seems to suggest that Charles himself may have ended up finding God.  Or, that at least there was some kind of understanding between him and the religion that killed his friendships and relationship.  It's all a big mixed bag at the end of the film, with no clear message or reasoning.  What exactly becomes of Charles Ryder?  We never find out and that is the films ultimate flaw.  It wants us to care for an individual who essentially has no personality or desires worth mentioning.  Does he love Sebastian's sister, or does he just love Brideshead?  Perhaps there are no answers.  Brideshead Revisited is worth seeing for the two performances mentioned at the beginning of the post and for the films visually arresting and perfectly paced second act.  The rest of the film is forgettable, which is a shame really because there was great talent involved.