In Contention

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  • In it together

    Today is my birthday. I’m 24 years old.

    I’ve been following the Oscar race with some notable level of attention for 8 years. It is by no means a lengthy tenure, as there are others in the game who have been observing this outlandish span of time much longer than that. Even still, in these recent years – the height of the race’s popularity amongst the film-going community – I’ve noticed a number of intriguing things as a witness to its modern evolution.

    My first season was the 1997 season. The big films in play were James Cameron’s Titanic, Curtis Hanson’s L.A. Confidential and Gus Van Sant’s Good Will Hunting. It would be a rather poignant introductory year into the process for me.

    I knew my favorite films of the year were As Good As It Gets (from director James L. Brooks) and L.A. Confidential. The former struck the right chord at a time in my life where I was truly head-over-hills in love, while the latter was part of a brief progression of cinema – along with Michael Mann’s Heat and Bryan Singer’s The Usual Suspects – that was greatly sparking my interest and leaning me toward a profession chosen in the filmmaking arena.

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  • SHORT TAKE: “Transamerica” (*)

    TransamericaIt’s a very rare occasion that I walk out on a film. I tend to give everything a chance, and, especially in my life as a critical mind and writer, I feel I at least have the responsibility of seeing a thing from all sides.

    I did not walk out on “Transamerica,” but boy did I want to.

    Let us not bother with the mountain of issues the film either clobbers with a mallet or otherwise dodges completely.  Let’s leave alone it’s existence in a woefully surface-scratching state unworthy even of the label “sitcom-ish.”  And let’s also set aside the most dreadful character illustration we’ve seen in a film this year (misguided former hooker and wannabe junkie Toby Osbourne).

    Yes, let’s forget all of those elements for a moment and simply ponder what the heck this film is trying to say.

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  • SHORT TAKE: “Chicken Little” (***)

    Walt Disney Pictures' Chicken LittleDisney’s first fully computer generated in-house animated feature opens next Friday, and in a Fall season that seemingly brings with it a new disappointment each and every week, I have to consider this little gem a breath of fresh air.

    I won’t dip into hyperbole here. “Chicken Little” is what it is: a swift animated venture aimed at kids with brief attention spans, fit with enough mature giggles thrown into the mix to keep the parents engaged. Though at its heart the film is quite “grown up,” dealing with parental issues of believing in one’s child that make it more pertinent for a family movie-going experience than most animated features.  The film is still a frothy delight that at the very least reaches the bar for which it aims. That’s saying a lot this year.

    Taking the well-known fable of “Chicken Little” and her claims that “the sky was falling” after being conked on the head by an acorn, the screenplay –- from writers Steve Bencich, Ron Friedman and Ron Anderson –- expands on the myth.  It weaves a rather comprehensive moral into the mix that goes far beyond the mere warning against exaggeration and ill-informed conclusions the 300-year-old tale proposes.

    This was an enjoyable experience on many levels –- even in a crowded Westwood theater surrounded by talkative and fidgety youngsters. The voice talent is of considerably high quality, most especially Zach Braff, who pumps a lot of emotion into the title role (the gender of the character was changed to male early in the process), and Gary Marshall as Buck Cluck, Chicken Little’s struggling father who wishes he had the answers his dearly departed wife had in the realm of guidance.

    That’s right, the film even deals with single parenting -– right under your nose.

    I’d prefer not to write too much because analysis of something like this isn’t valuable. You’ll take from it what you will and the themes are easy enough to pick up on without a critic or columnist hammering them home for you. But while it may not be as inspired or as inventive as “Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride,” “Chicken Little” is a very charming addition to the pantheon of 2005 animated film product.

    (I should add that I was not, nor was the crowd, able to experience the “digital 3-D” technology utilized by the film at this screening, but I’m intrigued nonetheless and may just have to give it a shot once the film opens.)

  • REVIEW: “Jarhead” (**1/2)

    JarheadSam Mendes’s “Jarhead” makes no immediate attempt to connect you to its central character. It makes no attempt to pump emotion and empathy into the veins of the audience. It falls in line with Mendes’ penchant for colder, more removed depictions, and it’s potentially the material that most suits this penchant that the director has come across to date.

    I don’t blame the film for any of this. In fact, I rather champion it for it. The thematics come across, even if Mendes doesn’t follow through when he could have REALLY hit it out of the park, but the overall sense one gets from the film is a mish-mash of the offerings we’ve seen from other war film directors.

    Following a protagonist reminiscent of Albert Camus’ central focus in “The Stranger,” Bill Broyles’s screenplay (based on the novel by Anthony Swofford) gets to the point abruptly and hammers it home for the remainder.

    In the eyes of a “jarhead,” as envisioned by Swofford, life is a meaningless existence.  The journey of a soldier is less about defending a nation than it is about defining himself (or herself). In the middle of the desert, miles away from anything that matters in their world, no matter what they’re told by those in positions of power, the lives of freedom fighters are worthless in the eyes of those who live them.

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  • SHORT TAKE: “Hustle & Flow” (***1/2)

    Hustle & FlowI was finally able to catch Craig Brewer’s acclaimed “Hustle & Flow” last night at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood. The film was the opening installment of this year’s Movie City News Screening Series.

    Much hullabaloo has been made this year of Terrence Howard’s breakout work in both this and Paul Haggis’s “Crash,” and let me just say, in “Hustle & Flow” he puts forth the single greatest performance I’ve witnessed in a number of years. His depiction of DJay, a Memphis pimp with “head in the clouds” dreams of becoming a successful hip-hop artist, boasts an embarrassment of layers that makes one wonder, “Why hasn’t anyone tapped into this guy’s star potential before?”

    His turn in “Crash” was well-developed and largely faithful to the visions of Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco, but his work in Brewer’s film elevates what could have been a flat, uneven character – one that may have seemed overbearing in an insistence on killing stereotypes – to a whole other, transcendent level.

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  • SHORT TAKE: “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” (***1/2)

    Kiss Kiss Bang BangShane Black’s “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” is surprisingly fun, excitingly catty and ultimately one of the greatest guilty pleasure film experiences of the year.

    Based in part on Brett Halliday’s novel “Dead Bodies Are Where You Find Them” – about which I must confess I am entirely ignorant and therefore have no basis for commentary – Black’s film serves as a worthy addition to the canon of the American buddy/cop film genre he helped to create with 1987’s “Lethal Weapon.”

    The conglomerate of Walter Hill, Roger Spottiswoode, Larry Gross and the ever genre-immersed Steven E. de Souza really initiated the concept with 1982’s “48 Hours.” Following suit, the trend continued through to the John McTiernans and the Jan De Bonts of the world toward fully crafting the modern American cop actioner. Of course, films like this can find roots in, say, William Friedkin’s “The French Connection” on some level, but in as much as they exist almost as comedies first and foremost, Shane Black has certainly hand a major hand in paving the way, for better or worse.

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  • REVIEW: “Good Night, and Good Luck.” (***1/2)

    Good Night, and Good Luck.I see many films each year. I write about most of them. But rarely do I feel the need to rush home and pour my thoughts and perspective into a column immediately.

    Such was the case with “Good Night, and Good Luck.”

    The subject of Edward R. Murrow and his valiant stand against McCarthy Era politics is an obvious obsession for director George Clooney. Newsman father Nick Clooney brought the star up in a lefty household that held men like Murrow in the highest regard – men who invented journalism in its modern existence, found its pulse of potential and utilized its merits for a greater, noble good.

    When Murrow (portrayed to perfection by David Strathairn) is first revealed in the film, it is a backstage moment before giving what would be seen as an indicting speech in acceptance of commendation at a 1958 Radio and Television News Directors Association convention. He takes a few final puffs from his signature cigarette. A plume of smoke steadily escapes his nostrils. The image recalls a dragon blowing smoke before breathing furious fire.

    That’s precisely what Murrow was about to do.

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  • INTERVIEW: Gong Li

    Chinese actress Gong Li is poised to explode onto the landscape of the American movie scene.

    An international star and a staple of contemporary Asian cinema for nearly twenty years, Gong has offered awards-caliber work with performances in Kaige Chen’s Farewell My Concubine and former beau Zhang Yimou’s Raise the Red Lantern and Shanghai Triad, as well as this year’s 2046 from revered auteur Wong Kar-Wai. Her second English language endeavor comes this December in the form of Columbia’s Memoirs of a Geisha from director Rob Marshall.

    One of the last big secrets of the season is just how well this film, from the Academy Award-nominated Chicago helmer, may or may not have turned out. Marshall initiated much hullabaloo last year in the form of his perceived controversial casting decisions, and that fallout has continued through to the film’s upcoming release.

    For the lead role of Nitta Sayuri, a Japanese geisha circa 1929, the director thumbed Bejing-born wunderkind Ziyi Zhang. This triggered a swell of resentment from many in the international film-going community, shocked at the notion of casting a Chinese woman in the position of a Japanese character, let alone a character so historically resonant where the country’s heritage is concerned. But then Marhsall also sought out Malaysian native Michelle Yeoh for the role of Mameha, Sayuri’s mentor, and, of course, China-bred Gong Li in the showy role of villainess Hatsumomo.

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  • INTERVIEW: Viggo Mortensen

    “I think Americans are good people, but I don’t think they’re better or worse than anybody else in the world. I am particularly proud of the fact that, in spite of the pathetic performance of our government in relation to what happened, how it could have been prepared for and reaction after the fact to the hurricane, and now there’s another one today, and tomorrow coming in hard – it didn’t matter what the government did or didn’t do or how they wanted to hide or make excuses. People took care of business, and continue to. I think people are essentially resilient and people surprise us – the good they can do, the compassion they can display. Humans are unique in that sense compared to other animals, just like in this story. They can reason and say ‘no, that’s not the right way. It may be difficult, but I want to struggle against being that way.’ They can also reach out to help people that they don’t even know for no particular reason other than it’s the right thing to do. And you can see that happening right now. That always give you hope for the future.”

    -Viggo Mortensen, Beverly Hills, Septmber 22, 2005

    Actor Viggo Mortensen has an eclectic sense of artistry.

    He is keen on storytelling, not only through his work as a thespian, but also through his efforts in literature and even photography. Maria Bello describes him as being a man whom you cannot separate from his art, and speaking directly with the actor, one detects an unabashed sense of cultural acuity – an attunement with the world of self-expression.

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  • Waxing politique

    Interviewing Viggo Mortensen last Thursday at the Four Seasons brought with it the inevitable political discussion, prompted by my referencing statements the actor had made calling for the impeachment of President Bush in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The following is his political stance and word for word dissection of the administration. Though not pertaining to A History of Violence or film in the slightest, I feel it an important statement that deserves its own coverage. And I agree with every syllable:

    “What I don’t want is just for Bush to be impeached, because the last person I want in charge of the world is Cheney. He’s a total pirate. And this doesn’t have to do with left wing, right wing, it doesn’t have to do with democrat, republican, it’s about honesty. I know that politicians – that’s the way the business is, politics – most of them, at some point or another, act in a two-faced way, by necessity it seems, and that governments generally lie. But what Bush and his backers have done is so far beyond, in terms of lying consistently, over and over again. They’ve taken it to a whole other level, and at the risk of sounding crude, I guess I would ask you this. How can you justify having impeachment proceedings that are costly and extremely distracting to a president that is trying to run the country and deal with things like terrorism? How can you compare having impeachment proceedings against someone for lying about a private sexual encounter or encounters, with a guy who is taking the United States to hell in a hell basket? It’s just unbelievable.

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  • INTERVIEW: Maria Bello

    Actress Maria Bello tells it how it is.

    She seemingly refuses to censor herself, and in an interview setting she is perfectly comfortable allowing her thought process to be put on display. She’s headstrong, contemplative and overwhelmingly sensitive to the natural process of learning, be it through life, through career, through love or through family. She’s one of the few who seems to approach acting from within rather than from without, and as such, she was the perfect candidate for the demanding and crucial role of Edie Stall in David Cronenberg’s A History of Violence.

    An actress with roots in television, including a modest stint on NBC’s “ER”, Bello has made rather defining marks in her cinematic output thus far. She typically finds herself portraying ladies mesmerized by their leading men.

    In Permanent Midnight, she played the whimsical groupie (of sorts) to Ben Stiller’s former junkie screenwriter. In Auto Focus she found face-time opposite Greg Kinnear’s sex-addicted Bob Crane. In The Cooler she bounced off of the passive and reactive William H. Macy as a call girl searching for a pulse in lighted but lifeless Las Vegas. And this year, she offers her best work to date, opposite Viggo Mortensen, portraying equal parts of fear, loathing and intrigue as the wife of a man caught between a clouded past and a hopeful future.

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  • INTERVIEW: David Cronenberg

    Filmmaker David Cronenberg has made a career out of disturbing imagery. From James Woods shoving a videotape through his stomach in 1983’s Videodrome to James Spader getting off with a crippled Holly Hunter in 1996’s Crash; Jeff Goldblum spewing acid in 1986’s The Fly to the construction of a weapon made of human bones in eXistenZ, Cronenberg has found a knack for concocting horrifying cinematic incarnations.

    His latest film, A History of Violence, opened in limited release last weekend. The film is, by and large, his most subtle effort to date. By that same token, it is also the most disturbing work of his career.

    One would never expect such fantastic imaginings to come from the brain of this modest, quiet and unassuming individual. Mr. Cronenberg sits with Zen-like contentment when both surrounded by a roundtable of harping journalists, as well as in private, having just received news of a rave review from The New York Times. He is a man who seems very comfortable in his own skin, peering out at the world he envisions through piercing blue eyes, under furry mantle-like gray eyebrows. He seems quite capable of amusing himself through his work as an artist.

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  • SHORT TAKE: “Walk the Line” (***)

    Walk the LineYou’ll soon see Joaquin Phoenix tearing up the screen with a blistering performance in the story of a seminal rock star’s fascinating life in “Walk the Line” – but it ain’t Johnny Cash.

    The film works very well on its own terms, but I have to say – I just don’t like the terms. On performances, the singing in the film is unbelievably on point. Reese Witherspoon is fantastic and it’s perhaps her best work yet – a proud moment for the dearly departed Carter.

    And Phoenix is on fire, even if I felt like I was watching Joaquin Phoenix the whole time. You see, I never once felt like this was Johnny Cash – unlike Jamie Foxx in “Ray.”  And is it really wise to make your main character THIS loathsome for the entire film? Is it even that interesting to do so? Is it very respectful to hold Cash up as a junkie first and foremost? Talk about pillaging a legacy.

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  • SHORT TAKE: “In Her Shoes” (**1/2)

    In Her ShoesCurtis Hanson’s “In Her Shoes” is an exercise in sluggish pacing.  It has a lot to say to its target audience, but it ultimately feels as though the filmmaker behind the project isn’t capable of really sparking the conversation.

    Cameron Diaz struts about the screen desperately in need of a meal, but fulfilling the empty framework of her character well enough to believably convey a ditz, while Toni Collette capably provides us with yet another brilliant performance in a sub-par film.

    The real question mark for me becomes why anyone would have made a big deal of Shirley MacLaine’s lackluster performance of a flatly conceived character.

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  • REVIEW: “A History of Violence” (***1/2)

    A History of Violence“A History of Violence” is going to be David Cronenberg’s crowning glory. It’s the film that has something to say about every cinematic endeavor in his lengthy portfolio. It’s the film that time will remember him by.

    Based on a gritty graphic novel by John Wagner, the film is a commentary on the nature of violence, the mechanics of its simplicity and the mechanics of its complicity. It’s an account of the effect violence has on a household, on a town, on many different psyches. It’s one of the smartest subtextual films of the year, yet the subtext seems obvious. But it’s not.

    “A History of Violence” is a very intricate film.

    The fascination is that to be so meticulous in its thematics, the story is relayed in a very elementary fashion. No fancy tricks, no overwrought hand-to-mouth relay – just basic, almost painfully simple storytelling. I would say that not only is it Cronenberg’s most accessible film, but it is potentially his most disturbing. And, obviously, that is saying a LOT.

    The events take place in Millbrook, a picturesque small-town setting that stands almost archetypal in the midst of an upcoming storm. The storm comes in the form of two mass murderers waltzing into Tom Stall’s (Viggo Mortensen) downtown diner with evil intentions. After handily disposing of the would-be murderer/rapists, Stall is catapulted into the limelight as an unassuming hero. He soon finds himself at the whims of Philadelphia mobster Carl Fogaty (Ed Harris) and his band of cronies, expressing a vested interest in this small town savior.

    The violence in the film is extensive and at times outrageous, though it retains a level of creativity and relevance that keeps it from becoming gratuitous – shockingly. The gore is stomach-turning, to be sure, but vital to the components of the story Cronenberg is telling. Ultimately, it’s all seemingly a justification for the career he has made in the splatter business, as if it’s all been a long, slow ride to this moment, this declaration, this brand of insightful commentary.

    Furthermore, the film boasts one of the most organic ensemble performances of the year.

    (from left) Maria Bello and Viggo Mortensen in A History of ViolenceMortensen portrays Stall with a particular ease. Rather he inhabits him, giving the kind of performance that true acting is all about. At the same time, it’s the sort of work that gets ignored during awards season in favor of showier turns.

    Ed Harris springs onto the screen as the creepy Fogaty, and I have to say he sculpts the character off the page better than any other actor could have managed. On paper, Fogaty is assuredly a device if anything. Harris breathes him in and out and terrifies accordingly, though I must admit it’s missing a certain something to be considered formidable in the Oscar ring.

    William Hurt’s five minute cameo is one of the best pieces of work this year, a barrel of laughs and yet a swift study in acting perfection. Yes, perfection.

    But the real stand-out is Maria Bello. Bello was passed over by the Academy for a notice in 2003 for her multi-lauded performance in The Cooler, but I don’t expect that to be the case this year. If “A History of Violence” has any real shot at Oscar recognition, it is for her explosive performance. This is fire-breathing, gut-wrenching, head-spinning work. The layers that would be considered missing in a film like this, one that could easily be labeled “surface,” she adds them…in spades.

    A final note, “A History of Violence” also has something to say about passion. I’m not afraid to say that I haven’t quite put my finger on it yet, but it has something to do with two raunchy sex scenes that manage to remain out of the realm of gratuitous – much like the violence – as well as the motivations behind the character of Stall and why he is where he is at the film’s open. There is most definitely a point being made about desire, vehemence and conviction. It’s lurking – much like the film.

    I can’t wait to see this again.

  • SHORT TAKE: “Corpse Bride” (***1/2)

    Tim Burton's Corpse BrideI saw Tim Burton’s “Corpse Bride” in Westwood tonight, and it’s one of the most enjoyable films of the year. Recalling strands of “Beetlejuice” and “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” the film’s witty screenplay combines with a bombastic Danny Elfman score and a heightened level of production value to make for Burton’s best endeavor of any sort since 1999’s Sleepy Hollow, and perhaps since 1994’s Ed Wood.

    The film tells the story of Victor and Victoria (voiced by Johnny Depp and Emily Watson respectfully) and the deceased bride-to-be (Tim Burton’s own bride, Helena Bonham Carter) that comes between them and their arranged marriage.

    Burton draws upon his cast of collaborators for a who’s who of voice talent. Amongst the contributors are Albert Finney, Christopher Lee, Michael Gough, and Elfman, with Tracy Ullman and Joann Lumley to boot.

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  • SHORT TAKE: “The Family Stone” (***1/2)

    Fox Searchlight Pictures\' The Family StoneThomas Bezucha’s “The Family Stone” is as refreshingly scripted as one can hope for. His film has magnificent ideas. His characters are thoroughly crafted with a richness unbecoming of the current cinema. His tale brings with it a warmth and a spirit that permeates like the finest emotional experience.

    It should be noted that the film I saw is not in its finalized form. There are touches to be made, score to be filled in, a number of variables to add to the mixture. But in the current state, “The Family Stone” is still something to behold.

    As for performances, you’ll hear many things about Diane Keaton to be sure. Her earthy motherly portrayal is a sincere portrait from an actress at the top of her game yet again. Sarah Jessica Parker sports a showy turn that will leave audiences in stitches. Luke Wilson offers up a chuckler per minute he’s on screen. Rachel McAdams stays on course for assured stardom. Dermot Mulroney keeps an even keel and Claire Danes pops in for a touching if understated, and perhaps under-written, spell.

    But Craig T. Nelson steals my heart, supporting as the father figure that bleeds a warmth you can’t stand to be away from. It’s my favorite performance of the year, and it will likely remain under the radar.

    I won’t yet fully handicap the film’s Oscar potential. We need to see where it goes upon release, though I expect this one to find a significant holiday audience. Speculation for Keaton is warranted, but I’m looking five other directions at the moment.

    Parker’s sparkling irritant could make a play if her category weren’t stuffed to the gills. And Nelson would be a personal hopeful, of course. All things considered I think the writers’ branch ought to see the sure-handedness Bezucha displays in his sophomore effort. If not for Oscar then perhaps his guild can come through, because writing of this caliber deserves distinction.

  • SHORT TAKE: “Grizzly Man” (**1/2)

    Grizzly ManWerner Herzog’s “Grizzly Man” is an amazingly rich film, and an indefinably important one for those who have a vested interest in artistic showcases of man’s position in his natural world.

    That Herzog, a madman in his own right, would be drawn to the life and times of Timothy Treadwell is hardly surprising, but what did catch me off guard watching the film was how much Herzog, even given the controller that he is, allowed the seams of his staging and the melodrama of his subjects to come across on film.

    I don’t really want to dig too deep into the film. Treadwell was a madman, but a beautiful man. And Herzog, a cinematic genius, found a fascination in his fellow filmmaker’s exploits. Hearing Herzog’s view of his basis for nature’s common denominator (chaos) bouncing off of his subject’s basis (balance) was an exercise in exemplary cinema where filmic essays are concerned. But what really bothered me was how out of control the director let his obviously theatrical (in personality) interviewees get.

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