33 posts tagged “film”
I've been watching and waiting for years for "Lillie" to appear on DVD and it finally has. I was curious to see if "Lillie" was as good as I remembered, and I'm happy to say that it is.
Lillie is a precocious beauty who grows up wild in a household with 6 brothers on the Isle of Jersey. In an attempt to escape the confines of life on the Channel Islands, she marries the feckless Irish gentleman and sportsman Edward Langtry, whom she soon discovers would rather be fishing or sailing than partaking of the life she dreams of in London. In London, though, Lillie quickly becomes the darling of society and the lover of the Prince of Wales (among many others), and the friend and inspiration to artists and poets like Edward Millais, Frank Miles, James Whistler, and Oscar Wilde. After Edward Langtry's bankruptcy, Lillie takes to the stage where she becomes a popular sensation on both sides of the Atlantic. In later years, she becomes an American citizen, owns a winery in California, a stable of champion racehorses, and makes and loses several fortunes. (In even later years, Pete Townshend wrote and The Who performed 'Pictures of Lily', inspired by Mrs. Langtry, who died in 1929.) I 'd recommend the Wikipedia article on Lillie for a more complete overview of the tumultuous life of this incredible woman.
The casting of the series is inspired. Francesca Annis gives a tour de force performance as the beautiful, brilliant, headstrong Lillie. Anton Rodgers is magnificently pathetic as her husband Edward. Peter Egan is the perfect Oscar Wilde (whose persecution, trial and imprisonment are part of the story) and Dennis Lille the perfect "Bertie", Prince of Wales. The production values are high and - this coming from someone who never pays attention to such things - even the costumes are beautiful.
I think the series loses a bit of steam in the latter episodes, but I still recommend it highly - a fascinating story, wonderfully executed.
After a deadly terrorist attack on an American compound in Saudi Arabia, a team of FBI agents led by Ronald Fleury (Jamie Foxx) is sent to that country to investigate. They are forced to deal not only with political infighting at home between the State Department and the FBI, but also with the secretive Saudis, and with the profound cultural differences between themselves and their hosts.
Foxx, Jennifer Garner, and Jason Bateman were OK as the FBI team, but there were some great supporting roles for some of my favorites. Chris Cooper actually seemed to be having a good time as the good ol' boy explosives expert. Jeremy Piven reprises his Entourage Ari Gold character as the State Department man in Riyadh. And Six Feet Under's Richard Jenkins is as wry as ever as the Director of the FBI. There's also a solid performance by the Israeli Arab actor Ali Suliman as the Saudi officer assigned to escort the Americans.
There are some very effective action sequences, including a spectacular car crash, but maybe the most interesting part of this film was the first two minutes when, as the credits roll, we are given a short primer on the history of the relationship between the US, the Saudis, and their oil. The film makes an effort to emphasize the common humanity on both sides, but the final scenes remind us that the Global War on Terror has a long way to go.
Some criticize The Kingdom because they're unsure whether it's an action picture or a 'message' movie. But maybe it's one of those few films that can be successful as either. All in all, I'd grade The Kingdom a good solid B.
Looking back, it was a pretty good movie year. Here are some of the films, some old and some new, that I especially enjoyed in 2007.
It amazes me 1) that Mervyn LeRoy's I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang is 75 years old, and 2) that I've never seen it before.
Paul Muni stars as Paul Allen, who returns from World War I and tries to make his way in the world. Wrongly convicted for a robbery he is forced to commit at gunpoint, he is sentenced to ten years on the chain gang. One of LeRoy's aims was to expose the brutality and inhumanity of the Southern chain gangs and he succeeds admirably. (The film was banned in Georgia.)
Allen manages to escape after several years in captivity and builds a successful life for himself until his past catches up with him. The film ends with Allen on the run again. He visits Helen, the woman he loves.
She asks, "Can't you tell me where you're going? Will you write? Do you need any money? But you must, Jim. How do you live?". In the chilling final line and shot, James replies ominously, "I steal", and backs away, disappearing into the dark. The composition and lighting of the final scene, considered to be one of the best in film history, was reportedly accidental. The lights on the set supposedly either failed or were turned off earlier than intended. The studio liked what it saw and kept the ending. (Wikipedia)
A classic American film and a new addition to my all-time favorites list.
La Vie en Rose is the story of the short, tumultuous life of the French chanteuse Edith Piaf. Abandoned by her mother as a child she is raised in a brothel where her grandmother works. After her father's return from World War I, she joins him traveling with a circus and, eventually, performing on their own in the streets. She is 'discovered' singing on a street corner by a prominent Paris nightclub owner and, despite a life full of controversy. loss, and scandal, and fueled by massive quantities of drugs and alcohol, she goes on to become one of France's most beloved entertainers. Piaf died of liver cancer in 1963 at the age of 47.
Marion Cotillard as Edith gives one of the best performances you're likely to see in this or any other year. She's won a number of European awards and has been nominated for Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards for this role. I expect that she'll receive a well deserved Oscar nomination as well.
As she grows older, Briony realizes the enormity of what she has done and the impossibility of making it right. She goes on to become a successful novelist and, in the film's almost too clever final sequence, an aged Briony (Vanessa Redgrave), facing a degenerative disease that is destroying her memory, makes one last effort to atone for her sin in the only way she can.
My only real gripe with the film was that it was a little slow out of the gate - a lot of gauzy shots of the interior of an English manor house, and, as my wife said, "Too many soulful looks". Once the story is finally set into motion, though, it's a complex and compelling tale.
There's an amazing sequence in the middle of the film where Robbie and his companions arrive on the beach at Dunkirk and wander through the chaos there. I realized several minutes into the scene that the whole sequence was (I believe) one, long, incredibly choreographed shot. I started looking for edits when I realized what was going on, but didn't see any for several more minutes. Pretty impressively done.
Ratatouille - I don´t usually go for these animated features but, that said, this was fairly entertaining and beautiful to look at. I was hoping there´d be some interviews or behind-the-scenes with Patton Oswalt, but the extras were pretty slim on the disk I got from Netflix.
Ocean´s Thirteen - If Thirteen is indeed the final installment of this series, I´m sad to see it go. These films have been invariably smart and funny. This one may be the best of the three.
The Elephant Man - David Lynch's 1980 classic has been making the rounds on TCM. It's still pretty powerful after all these years.
Amazing Grace - This was much better than I expected. It's the story of William Wilberforce's fight against the slave trade in late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth century Britain. Directed by Michael Apted. Ioan Gruffud stars as Wilberforce. Albert Finney and Michael Gambon also appear, as do Youssou N´Dor and the under-appreciated Rufus Sewell.
Shooter - This was kind of a Bourne wannabe. Marky Markety Mark Mark Wahlberg stars as a former marine sharpshooter who is framed in a conspiracy to assassinate the President. Lots of exploding heads and limbs, car chases, shit blowing up, etc. Not terrible. For me, though, the highlight of the film was Levon Helm´s 2 or 3 minutes of screen time as Mr. Rate, the backwoods ballistics expert.
Worth the price of admission just for that. Not to mention the mountain range that has somehow appeared in Philadelphia......Mr. Rate: That's how a conspiracy works. Them boys on the Grassy Knoll they were dead within three hours, buried in the damned desert, unmarked graves out past Terlingua.
Nick Memphis: You know this for a fact?
Mr. Rate: Still got the shovel...
28 Weeks Later is a more than serviceable sequel to 2002's Zombie Party 28 Days Later.
It's six months after the outbreak of the Rage virus in England and, believing that the last of the infected are dead and that the virus has been contained, an American-led NATO force lands in London to begin the re-settlement of the country from a secure 'Green Zone' on the Isle of Dogs. Robert Carlyle (Trainspotting, The Full Monty) stars as a man who, during the outbreak, deserts his wife while they are under attack by the infected. He is re-united with his children who have been in a re-settlement camp in Spain. Saying much more would reveal a major plot point so I won't spoil it for you. Suffice it to say that if you liked the original, you'll more than likely enjoy this one. Idris Elba (Stringer Bell in The Wire) appears as General Stone, the American Commanding Officer. And I'm betting that if there's a 28 Months Later it will take place on the Continent.
Back from our trip to LA - about which more later.
On Monday we went to see the new Coen Bros. film, No Country For Old Men, at the Arclight Theater in Hollywood. I'm a big Coen Bros. fan, and also liked the Cormac McCarthy novel on which the movie is based. NCFOM is no Fargo, but I liked the film a lot. It's loud and violent and funny and scary. Tommy Lee Jones was born to play the role of the world-weary, embattled sheriff. And Javier Bardem's Anton Chigurh joins Hannibal Lecter and Kaiser Soeze in the pantheon of great movie villains.
But what I really want to post about is the Arclight itself. In the ultimate movie town, the Arclight is a film-lovers paradise.
To wit:
- No Commercials - you don't get blasted by previews from the next episode of My Name is Earl, or by the new Toby Keith video.
- Comfortable chairs with headrests, like good automobile seats
- Assigned seats. Yes, that's right - when you buy your ticket you're given a seat assignment like at a concert or a play.
- Actual ushers, just like the olden days. Not only do they help you find your seat, but they stick around after the movie starts to make sure the picture and sound are absolutely perfect.
- Absolutely perfect picture and sound. Each auditorium is isolated so that no sound bleeds through from the film next door.
- Before the film starts, one of the ushers says a few words about the film, the director, the stars, etc. I think that they sometimes have people who were involved in the production say a few words.
- Real Butter on the popcorn
- Caramel Corn - although, much to our consternation, they were out on the day we visited.
- A quiet, respectful audience that loves movies as much as you do. At home we usually go to the movies on Sunday morning, when there are maybe a dozen people in the theater, to avoid the crowds. At one point during NCFOM I realized that I was in an auditorium with several hundred people and it was absolutely silent and still.
Definitely worth a visit if you're in LA. I plan to put 'see a film at the arclight' on my to-do list every time I go back. I hope they have caramel corn next time.
We haven't seen a first run film in a while, what with the vacation and the usual steaming pile of summer blockbuster crap on offer. We broke our drought yesterday with the wonderful Michael Clayton. The film was written and directed by first-time director Tony Gilroy who wrote the screenplays for all three Bourne films and for Delores Claiborne among others, so his street cred is pretty high. He certainly doesn't disappoint here.
Clayton - played, of course, by George (Coolest Man In The World) Clooney - is a 'fixer', a man who cleans up messes for a large New York law firm. If a big money client gets into a little scrape with the law (oh, a hit and run, say) or needs some help with a messy custody battle, or is looking for an in with the immigration authorities, Clayton is the go-to guy.
The firm is defending uNorth, an agricultural chemical company, in a multi-billion dollar class action suit. When Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson), the lead attorney on the case, suffers a spectacular personal and professional meltdown that threatens to derail the lawsuit, Clayton is sent to contain the damage and to rein him in (or is it 'reign'... I guess it doesn't matter any more).
Clooney is obviously the money in this cast but, for me, the picture belongs to Wilkinson and to Tilda Swinton who plays Karen Crowder, the tightly wound, robotic uNorth chief counsel.
Wilkinson sets the tone and sucks us in to Arthur's existential crisis in an incredible voice-over monologue in very first moments of the film. It's Everyman's crisis here in The Future: Where do our loyalties lie? How can we justify what we do to serve The Machine that owns us all? Is there a line we won't cross? Can we ever make things right? Arthur, unlike the rest of us, refuses to keep these questions buried any longer. That way lies madness, but, in his lucid moments at least, Arthur may be the sanest character in the film.
Michael: You are the senior litigator at one of the largest, most respected law firms in the world. You are a legend!
Arthur: I am an ACCOMPLICE!
Michael: You're a manic depressive!
Arthur: I am Shiva, the God of Death.
Swinton is delightfully creepy as the ultra-controlled Karen, whose carefully managed and choreographed career begin to crumble about her, and who is forced to make decisions they don't teach you about in Law School.
Co-Producer Sydney Pollack gives himself a juicy role here as Marty Bach, Clayton's boss at the law firm. Merritt Wever is excellent as Anna, the young plaintiff who is the catalyst for Arthur's collapse. There's even an appearance by the wonderful David Zayas (Angel on Showtime's Dexter series).
I don't think I've seen a smarter, better film than Michael Clayton this year. And I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Tom Wilkinson smiling on Oscar night.
Finally got to see The Bourne Conspiracy, er, Conundrum, er, Ultimatum (!) this past Monday and, in preparation, revisited the other two Bourne movies last weekend. Three Bourne films in four days and now I wake up every morning with 'Extreme Ways' buzzing through my skull. Although I admit that I Loved It that they used the same song over the closing credits in all three films.
For a much more literate and thorough review than I can (or have the patience to) produce, I commend Mike's review to your attention.
These films are a rare combination of action and intelligence. They have something for everyone: a gaggle of great actors, a complex story line, and plenty of speed and noise for the "let's bust some heads, crash some cars, and blow some shit up" crowd. Mike said he saw the film with a group of friends of varying tastes and everyone loved it. That's certainly the secret to the success of these films.
I'm not sure I agree that Supremacy was the best of the three. I'm hard pressed to say that one was better than the next. If I had to choose, I'd probably pick Identity, just based on the presence of Franka Potente. And I understand Mike's wish that the franchise shut down - why take the risk of spoiling a good thing... think Godfather III. But the film certainly left open the possibility of a sequel and I wouldn't be surprised to see it happen. These guys have made three consistently good films. I wouldn't mind seeing another.
I had a few minor quibbles. At the beginning of the film we watched David Strathairn go through a whole series of cipher-locked doors to reach the inner sanctum of the anti-terrorist unit. Later, Bourne magically appears in his office as if teleported there. (Although this did give rise to one of the movie's best "gotcha" lines.) Similarly, in an earlier segment Bourne just waltzes into the office of the CIA Station Chief in Madrid. Finally, the scene in Tangier. where the 'asset' is tailing Julia Stiles and is in turn being tailed by Bourne, just went on, as Adam Duritz might say, way, way, way, way too long. We get the idea early on: Bourne can jump from one rooftop to another or from a rooftop into some poor bewildered family's kitchen. Enough already.
It was a pleasant, entertaining way to spend a weekend. And there's nothing that gets your week off to a better start than popcorn and Diet Coke for a Monday morning breakfast.
The great Peter O'Toole got an Oscar nomination for his portrayal the aged thespian Maurice Russell, who's trying to squeeze every last delicious drop out of life.
Maurice's friend Ian (Leslie Phillips), no longer able to care for himself, recruits a rough-around-the-edges 19 year-old grand-niece, Jessie (Jodie Whittaker), as a live-in aide. Maurice is as enchanted by Jessie as Ian is appalled (Ian: "It's hardly been 24 hours and already I'm screaming for euthanasia!") Maurice quickly dubs her Venus and takes her under his lecherous wing.
Jessie says she wants to get a job, "You know, like, modelling". Maurice finds her a job as an artist's model, not exactly what Jessie had in mind. In one hilarious scene, Maurice is asked to leave the room before Jessie disrobes and then proceeds to make a spectacle of himself while trying to sneak a peek.
Maurice takes Jessie to plays and to the National Gallery to see Velasquez' Venus. She begins to realize that Maurice is "a little bit famous".
As you would expect, Jessie develops a grudging respect and even affection for the old coot, leading to a number of delightful exchanges like this one:
Maurice:
Venus. You look like a movie star.
[Kisses her neck]
Maurice:
Is there an old man odor?
Jessie:
Not so much this evening.
Maurice:
I wonder why.
Jessie:
You can kiss my shoulders.
Maurice:
Can I?
Jessie:
Three kisses. Three, I said! And no licking and burping, you dirty, filthy, little shithead.
Maurice:
[Chuckles] Oh, you please me.
Jessie:
And you me.
[He grabs her breast; she punches him in the groin]
Maurice:
Steady! Steady! I'm just out of intensive care.
Jessie:
You ask for it, Maurice. You know you do, with your forwardness. Do you believe in anything, Maurice?
Maurice:
Pleasure, I like. I've tried to give pleasure. That's all I'd recommend to anyone.
Jessie:
You've made me sticky with your slug tongue. I think I'll have a bath.
Maurice:
Well, well. I think I'll run it for you.
Michell (Changing Lanes, Notting Hill) directs from a screenplay by Hanif Kureishi, who also penned the Stephen Frears classics My Beautiful Launderette and Sammy and Rosie Get Laid. O'Toole's Oscar nod was richly deserved. He brings an impish glee to the role of Maurice. Maurice is a kind of latter day version of the character O'Toole played in My Favorite Year. Vanessa Redgrave, magnificent as always, makes an appearance as Maurice's ex-wife and Richard Griffiths, who was so wonderful in The History Boys, is once again a pleasure to watch as Maurice and Ian's friend Daniel. There are some nice Corrine Bailey Rae tracks on the soundtrack as well.
Bloody brilliant! In fact, I'm thinking about watching it again tonight.
