In Contention

Tag: Glenn Kenny

  • McWeeny on film critics who want you off their lawn

    Peter O'Toole (voice) in RatatouilleBoy I really need to get on the  ball when an idea crosses my mind these days.  Earlier in the week, Guardian writer Paul Harris beat me to the punch on an article I was spinning around concerning Hollywood’s attraction to post-apocalyptic narratives as of late.  Now HitFix’s Drew McWeeny has penned exactly the same kind of curious exploration of mainstream media critics’ views of the American film-going public that I was hoping to get to this week.

    McWeeny nails it.  In a nutshell, what the hell is it with the amount of hot air being blown by the self-important film criticism and journalism establishment toward audiences that have a right to go see what the hell they want lately?  Roger Ebert, Jeffrey Wells (no surprise there), A.O. Scott and Patrick Goldstein have all recently tossed around the idea of a coming “dark age” of movie intelligentsia, arrogantly dismissed the preferences of American audiences, bemoaned an overall lack of interest in what critics have to say and, effectively, as McWeeny puts it, declared that you all get off their lawn.

    I think there is a conversation to be had about American distaste in quality cinematic entertainment.  I don’t think it begins with insulting working people with higher concerns than what to see on a Friday night, however.  And I think the entire situation has pushed me that much further into an opinion I’ve held for a long time but never really had the guts to say in a public forum: Film criticism does not matter.  Yours, mine, the next guy’s.  It’s not precious, it’s not a commodity and it has slowly ruined the art of filmmaking by establishing a criteria of sorts and a hierarchy of perceived quality, boxing in what it sets out to celebrate.

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  • The hidden depths of Sasha Grey

    Sasha GreyI absolutely love this. It would appear that porn star Sasha Grey and highbrow film critic Glenn Kenny have more in common than just their mutual appearances in Steven Soderbergh’s “The Girlfriend Experience.” As this Rotten Tomatoes interview proves, Grey’s own cinematic taste is discerning, to say the least.

    Asked to name her five favorite films, she rattles off a decidedly impressive — not to mention catholic — array of titles: Werner Herzog’s “Stroszek,” Catherine Breillat’s “Fat Girl,” John Cassavetes’ “A Woman Under the Influence,” John Carpenter’s “Escape from New York” and Jean-Luc Godard’s “Pierrot le Fou.”

    The latter auteur is apparently something of an inspiration; Grey almost adopted the name of Godard muse Anna Karina as her stage moniker. Who knew? Here’s Grey on “Pierrot le Fou”:

    To me, it’s just a very romantic story. It’s the ultimate, “let’s just drop everything and run away together” movie; the way the story was told was so unique. There’s one scene in particular where Anna Karina is on the beach, and she rolls over and she just says, “F— me.” To put that in a film in that time period — you just didn’t expect that to come out of her mouth. It’s titillating, I guess you could say.

    Interesting to hear that Grey has a very different idea of what is “titillating” onscreen than what she actually practices. The lady continues to surprise.

  • Glenn Kenny’s ‘Girlfriend Experience’ set diaries

    Glenn KennyIf you’ve seen Steven Soderbergh’s “The Girlfriend Experience” (which opens in theaters tomorrow after being available On Demand and for Internet download since April 30), you no doubt remember former Premiere film critic Glenn Kenny’s cameo performance as “The Erotic Connoisseur,” an assayer of upscale prostitutes in New York who digs into Sasha Grey’s call girl with fury toward the end of the film.

    To me, it’s a fantastic, biting portrayal that proves Kenny should try his hand at it once more.  Kenny has already written about this before, but as it turns out, he has now launched an exclusive series of set diaries, which kicked off yesterday at The Auteurs.  There is plenty of the critic/actor’s dry wit to go around, but I particularly liked this passage, which follows a recounting of the initial phone call he received about taking the part:

    A word, here, on my own acting career: Its major triumph was in my junior year of high school, playing The Silent King in Once Upon A Mattress, at Jefferson Township High, in 1976. So strongly did I prevail that I was considered pretty much a shoo-in for the lead role in Jefferson’s 1977 dramatic offering, Dracula. But no. Even before auditions were announced, the drama coach informed me that I would not be getting the part, because, as he put it, I “lacked sex appeal.” Which is a heckuva thing for an adult to say to any 17-year-old male, when you think about it. To add insult to injury, he handed the role to an individual even more awkward and gawky than myself. Who, not to make a bad pun or anything, sucked. And I was left to end my scholastic acting career in Jefferson’s second production of ’77, The Sound of Music, in the role of Uncle Max, which anyone can tell you is the most nothing part in the history of The American Musical Theater. Well. Now I would show that drama coach.

    As one guy notes in the comments, Kenny’s performance has already stirred some talk in the, as he puts it, “hobbyist” community.  Anyway, the diaries make for a great, if at times cruel (Harry Knowles gets an unnecessary dig), read, and I imagine there’s more to come.  Check it all out here.  And my short review of the film, in case you missed it.

  • Playing critic

    Glenn KennyKris’s review of “The Girlfriend Experience” is but one of several that singles out the contribution of esteemed film critic Glenn Kenny to the film. In a sharply self-reflexive bit of casting, Kenny plays another critic of sorts — one who judges and critiques the performance of erotic escorts. But on his ever-readable blog, with tongue firmly in cheek, Kenny is quick to distinguish himself from the sleazebag he inhabits on screen:

    I here pay homage to the pioneers who paved the way for me: the rare film critics who put themselves in the shoes of the performers they analyze and appraise. Steven’s claim that what I do in Girlfriend is “just Glenn being Glenn” notwithstanding, I am not playing myself in the film, for my mother raised me better than that. Rather, I am portraying someone with my vocabulary, and an attitude that’s not entirely foreign to me.

    This serves as an introduction to a witty survey of previous acting efforts from notable critics, including a hilarious discussion of Rex Reed’s performance in the notorious 1970 catastrophe “Myra Breckenridge”:

    He was quite game … But still—he’s terrible. His line readings are flat throughout, and not in a good way. The nadir comes when his Myron is strolling through an orgy and a nude woman asks him, “What movie am I?” He looks down at her pubic area and, not even bothering to work up the tone of indolent contempt that was, and still is, a trademark of his, drawls, “How Green Was My Valley.” Ugh.

    All of which serves to remind me that “Myra Breckenridge” is one of those legendary “all-time worst” staples that I have yet to see. That nugget really whets my appetite.

  • SHORT TAKE: “The Girlfriend Experience” (***)

    The Girlfriend ExperienceSteven Soderbergh really gets back to what he’s good at in “The Girlfriend Experience,” a look at five days in the life of Chelsea, an upscale Manhattan escort (adult film star Sasha Grey, in her mainstream debut).

    The film is intimate (no pun intended) but also keeps the audience at arm’s length, forcing a voyeuristic quality to the goings-on.  Soderbergh employs long takes throughout, allowing his characters to steadily reveal their intentions, desires and simple thought processes.  But what he ultimately conveys is a portrait of some alien being, seemingly out of touch with all human feeling and emotion.

    Perhaps this is Grey’s downfall as an actress (since Soderbergh goes to great lengths to establish her as a thoughtful person), or perhaps it is the filmmaker’s point.  Whatever the case, “The Girlfriend Experience” represents Soderbergh at his most compelling, asking questions with his work behind the camera, probing the reality of relationships and bringing his audience along on a journey that ultimately gives no answers, offers no revelations and abruptly concludes after a brisk 77 minutes.  It doesn’t work completely but it is a preferable road to the “Ocean’s” series for the filmmaker to be on, of that we can be sure.

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