Tuesday, January 26, 2010

“Julie & Julia”

I’m probably not the only reviewer who liked one half of “Julie & Julia” better than the other. (For those who are wondering, the “Julia” half.) But then, who is Julie Powell (Amy Adams) in comparison to Julia Child (Meryl Streep)? Julie Child is an icon – her kitchen is in the Smithsonian, for Pete’s sake. Julie Powell is a frustrated writer in an unfulfilling job looking for a creative outlet. For Julia, cooking is a passion. While perhaps no less a passion for Julie, her feat is more of a stunt, as she cooks her way through Julia’s classic, “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” and blogs about it. The truth is, the story of Julia Child and how she became “Julia Child” is just more interesting. The love affair between Julia and her husband, Paul (Stanley Tucci) is charming and something I’d never heard about. So it adds a new dimension to the character we know from “The French Chef.” Post-war Paris, where the Childs live when Paul is a diplomat, is much more picturesque than Queens, N.Y. And Amy Adams is simply outgunned in the acting department. Not only does Meryl Streep have more to work with in Julia Child, she performs the feat of bringing this larger than life character down to earth. In contrast, Amy Adams (who I usually love) feels like she’s trying to keep up, just as Julie is trying to keep up with Julia. Director Nora Ephron does a great job of knitting the two stories together and making them move in parallel paths. And it’s actually quite enjoyable, hence my rating. But I think it would have been even better if it were titled “Nobody & Julia” or better still, “Paul & Julia,” hence my tweet: Julie & Julia-Nora Ephron blends Julia Child’s story with that of blogging admirer Julie Powell and creates a lopsided soufflé. 7.5 (out of 10)

“Julie & Julia”

Released: 2009

Rating: PG-13

Length: 123 minutes

Cast: Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Stanley Tucci, Chris Messina, Jane Lynch

Director: Nora Ephron

Genre(s): Adaptation, Romantic Comedy

Thursday, January 21, 2010

“The Shootist”

I’m not a huge fan of westerns, but “The Shootist” is one I popped to the top of my queue because of its star, John Wayne. This was the last film he made before finally succumbing to lung cancer. I haven’t seen a lot of Wayne’s work, so I don’t know if it’s one of his best. But it’s certainly a good film. As my tweet says, The Shootist-In an unfortunate case of typecasting, an aging John Wayne dying of cancer plays an aging gunslinger dying of cancer. 8 (out of 10), Wayne’s character, J.B. Books, is dying of cancer. He returns to Carson City, has his doctor, E.W. Hostetler (James Stewart) confirm the diagnosis then takes a room in a boarding house owned by the widow Rogers (Lauren Bacall). While it’s Books’ intention to live out his final days quietly, Dr. Hostetler, the Carson City Marshal (Harry Morgan) and the widow’s son, (Ron Howard) who is fascinated by Books’ life as a gunfighter, coax him into going out in the proper fashion. Fans of the John Woo school of shoot-outs with their atmospheric lighting, slow-motion photography of unloading ammo magazines and an aviary-load of flying doves – may be a little disappointed by the simplicity of this film’s climatic scene. But it’s a fitting ending for a man of action and few words, just as The Shootist” is for the career of John Wayne.

“The Shootist”

Released: 1976

Rating: PG

Length: 99 minutes

Cast: John Wayne, James Stewart, Lauren Bacall, Ron Howard

Director: Don Siegel

Genre(s): Drama, Western

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

“The Twelve Chairs”

My tweet: The Twelve Chairs-Mel Brooks made a movie between “The Producers” and “Blazing Saddles” that no one ever talks about. This is it. 5.5 (out of 10) I never heard of this movie before. But even Brooks’ less successful films are usually a good time. “The Twelve Chairs” certainly opens on a good note. It’s post-revolutionary Russia and an old lady, a one-time member of the aristocracy, makes a death-bed confession to hiding a fortune in jewelry inside an old dining room chair (one of 12) that has since been lost. That sends orthodox priest Father Fyodor (Dom Deluise) and her son-in-law, Ippolit Vorobyaninov, (Ron Moody) on a race to find the chairs and ultimately the jewels. I was expecting a madcap treasure hunt akin to “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.” But “The Twelve Chairs” never rises to that film’s level of slapstick and certainly not to the inspired lunacy of “The Producers” or Blazing Saddles.” It’s not all bad though. Frank Langella, as a larcenous beggar who teams up with Vorobyaninov, is a dashing presence. And both Dom Deluise and Ron Moody have their moments. But unless you’re a hardcore Mel Brooks fan who wants to see everything in his catalog, I think you can better than “The Twelve Chairs.” Brooks certainly did.

“The Twelve Chairs”

Released: 1970

Rating: NR

Length: 94 minutes

Cast: Ron Moody, Frank Langella, Dom DeLuise, Mel Brooks

Director: Mel Brooks

Genre(s): Comedy

Friday, January 15, 2010

“The Karate Kid”

I recently saw the trailer for the remake with Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith. So I thought I’d take another look at the original. “The Karate Kid,” for those who haven’t seen it, is a teenage version of “Rocky.” And for those who haven’t seen “Rocky,” it’s a story about an athlete who overcomes great odds because of his heart. (Director John Avildsen was behind both.) In “The Karate Kid,” Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) is a New Jersey native who relocates to the suburbs of L.A. and is almost immediately an outcast. He also makes the mistake of falling for a cute blond (Elisabeth Shue) who happens to be the girlfriend of the local teen karate champ, Johnny (William Zabka). As a result, Daniel ends up on the wrong side of Johnny and his buddies from the Cobra Kai dojo. Daniel’s luck changes when, after a particularly bad beating at the hands of Johnny, Mr. Miyagi, (Noriyuki “Pat” Morita) his building’s handyman, agrees to teach him karate. Unknown to Daniel, his first lessons involve performing maintenance work around Miyagi’s house, like waxing the cars and painting the fence. Miyagi never lets on that these chores are about building character as much as muscle memory. And once Miyagi reveals that these slow, laborious tasks have a purpose, Daniel’s attitude, and the pace of the movie picks up. We move onto the obligatory training scene (accompanied by mystical Asian-style music) followed by the main event – a face-off between Daniel and Johnny in the final round of a karate competition (accompanied by a power-rock anthem). Now I must confess that everything I know about karate comes from movies, so I could be wrong. But I wonder how far Daniel would actually get in a competition. I can see how the simple motions (like “wax on, wax off”) can translate into defensive moves. But how effective would they really be? And how, in a matter of weeks, could Daniel be ready to compete at such a level? In the end, though, reality doesn’t really matter because you’re along for the ride. “The Karate Kid” also benefits from the believable (surrogate) father-son relationship between Daniel and Miyagi, and a message about learning coming from unexpected places. (Which inspired my tweet: The Karate Kid-Teenager learns karate by performing household chores. And all I mastered with my Sensei was “mow lawn” & “take out trash.” 8 (out of 10) “The Karate Kid” is a good feel-good movie, especially for family viewing. For nostalgia fans, it’s also a bit of a mid-’80s time capsule. Look for Johnny in his Michael Jackson “Beat It” red leather jacket and the Cindy Lauper “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” hairstyles. Those two things alone could have been the reason for greenlighting the remake.

“The Karate Kid”

Released: 1984

Rating: PG

Length: 126 minutes

Cast: Ralph Macchio, Noriyuki “Pat” Morita, Elisabeth Shue, Martin Kove

Director: John Avildsen

Genre(s): Drama, Action, Sports

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

“Nothing But the Truth”

My tweet: Nothing but the Truth-Reporter Kate Beckinsale outs a CIA agent and is jailed for not revealing her source. Like that would ever happen. 7.5 (out of 10) Well, it actually happened. But not the way it does in this “ripped from the headlines” political/courtroom drama. Inspired by the real story of Judith Miller, the New York Times reporter who spent three months in jail for refusing to reveal the source of a CIA leak, Rod Lurie, the maker of political dramas like “The Contender” spins a much larger story. Reporter Rachel Armstrong (Kate Beckinsale) spends more than a year in jail as each of her attorney’s (Alan Alda, who seems to be making a career of playing high-powered lawyers) legal manuevers is deftly blocked by the government’s special prosecutor (Matt Dillion). In the meantime, lives fall apart for now-exposed CIA operative Erica Van Doren (Vera Farmiga) and Armstrong herself, as her husband (David Schwimmer, who seems to be getting whinier with each performance) deserts her and her cause. While there are high-minded questions about principle and motive in “Nothing But the Truth,” the identity of the source is the real question we want answered. So after a few plot twists and teases, you’ll learn where Armstrong got her tip. And it’s not a source I would have ever considered. So maybe it’s possible that Scooter Libby wasn’t the one who outed Valerie Plame.

“Nothing But the Truth”

Released: 2008

Rating: R

Length: 107 minutes

Cast: Kate Beckinsale, Matt Dillon, Vera Farmiga, Alan Alda, David Schwimmer

Director: Rod Lurie

Genre(s): Drama, Thriller

Thursday, January 7, 2010

“Ghost Town”

The reason to rent this DVD, in a word (two, actually): Ricky Gervais, who does another spin on the socially-awkward character he perfected on “The Office.” In “Ghost Town” he plays Bertram Pincus, a dentist who dies on the table during a colonoscopy and is revived, only to discover that he now can see and communicate with dead people. One particular member of his new group of friends is Frank Herlihy (Greg Kinnear), a recently-deceased cad who “convinces” Bertram to break up his widowed wife’s (Tea Leoni) pending marriage. And as is the law in the world of romantic comedies, Bertram must eventually fall in love with the widow and she with him. But that’s a little difficult when Bertram is an “anti-people” person who has a gift for saying and doing the wrong thing at the wrong time. Gervais himself has a gift for making these cringe-inducing characters watchable. Just as in “The Office,” you’ll watch a scene unfold and think to yourself, “he’s not going to do that… oh please don’t do that” and when does, you think to yourself, “I can believe he just did that.” And that’s the fun part in an otherwise pretty tame romantic comedy. My favorite scene: The dog with bad breath. My tweet, inspired by Bertram’s ability to see dead people: Ghost Town-Ricky Gervais, Tea Leoni & Greg Kinnear star in this romantic comedy loosely based on M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Sixth Sense.” 7 (out of 10)

“Ghost Town”

Released: 2008

Rating: PG-13

Length: 102 minutes

Cast: Ricky Gervais, Greg Kinnear, Tea Leoni

Director: David Koepp

Genre(s): Comedy, Romantic Comedy

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

“This Film Is Not Yet Rated”

It takes a certain amount of courage for a filmmaker to take on a powerful institution. Think of Michael Moore and his documentaries that ridicule GM (“Roger and Me”), the Bush administration (“Fahrenheit 9/11”) or the pharmaceutical industry and healthcare system (“Sicko”). But in “This Film Is Not Yet Rated,” Kirby Dick pokes a finger in the eye of an authority far more closer to home, at least for a filmmaker – the MPAA ratings board. Like many in the movie-gong public, he’d like to know how the Board comes up with its ratings. Why do movies that feature copious amounts of violence get “R” ratings while movies with nudity or sex (that are clearly not pornographic) receive an NC-17? So Dick goes about finding out. This is more than a matter of making a simple phone call. The MPAA works under an air of secrecy worthy of a military intelligence operation. When the polite methods won’t work, Dick becomes inventive – hires a private detective, sorts through trash, uses hidden cameras – and he chronicles everything. He also interviews filmmakers who’ve “suffered” at the hands of the MPAA, including John Waters, Kevin Smith, Matt Stone and Atom Egoyan, as well as some former members of the Board, who I assume will now be unable to get tables at posh restaurants in L.A. The story that Dick pieces together is surprising, but not shocking. The Board members (yes, he finally identifies them all) are promoted by the MPAA as parents of children aged 5-17, yet most are not. The big studios who fund the MPAA get preferential treatment, while indie filmmakers are often left on their own. And the MPAA, who professes to support a filmmaker’s freedom of expression, is a de facto censor because an NC-17 rating will close off various distribution and marketing channels. But “This Film Is Not Yet Rated” gets really interesting when Dick submits his film to the MPAA for a rating (an NC-17, of course). He presses them for an explanation and specifics, and receives a couple of unfriendly phone calls from their representatives, including an MPAA attorney who threatens to “Cut him off.” Now for a filmmaker, that’s pretty courageous. My tweet: This Film Is Not Yet Rated-Kirby Dick investigates the “even when you win, you lose” paradox by taking on the MPAA ratings Star Chamber. 7.5 (out of 10)

“This Film Is Not Yet Rated”

Released: 2005

Rating: NR

Length: 97 minutes

Cast: John Waters, Kevin Smith, Matt Stone, Kimberly Peirce

Director: Kirby Dick

Genre(s): Documentary, Interview