08.31.08
Week in Review (31/08/08)
Another sloooow week in the land of me. I am not in preparation to attend TIFF, or NYFF like some, and I am not at Telluride or Venice right now, and the most exciting thing to happen to me all weekend is that I saw “Mamma Mia!” Jealous much?
- Review: “The House Bunny” (C)
- Review: “Mamma Mia!” (C)
- Review: “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days” (A+)
- Not Yet Reviewed: “The Elite Squad,” “The Edge of Heaven” and “Chop Shop”
- Out in Africa film festival line up
- Clooney is in talks to join Reitman “Up in the Air”
- The sucktacular line up of films that opened in SA this weekend, including a South African film that has been getting steady reviews, which I missed because of a power failure. Ugh.
- Venice Reactions: Burn After Reading, The Burning Plain
- Telluride Reactions: The 20-minute preview of “Benjamin Button” , O’Horten, Tulpan and Prodigal Sons
- Competitions: Mamma Mia! and Jerusalema (said SA film I missed)
Telluride ‘08: “Prodigal Sons,” “O’Horten,” “Tulpan”
“Prodigal Sons” by Kimberly Reed
Karina Longworth, “Prodigal Sons ultimately falls into the unfortunate trap of so many post-digital personal documentaries: it’s an Everybody Has One movie. Everyone has one tragic/triumphant story that, if shaped correctly, could make sufficient fodder for a film – but that doesn’t mean that everyone is a filmmaker.”
David Thomson, ”I’m not sure that it’s especially ‘good’ in the sense of being flawlessly made. But it’s a film about inescapable flaws. Sometimes a movie does the simplest thing film has to offer: it shows us something we have never quite seen or felt before; it shows us something that shocks and alarms us – and that doesn’t have to be an ingredient from a horror picture, or something capable of fictional redemption”
Anne Thompson, “Reed tries to weave her story, her brother’s story, and their dramatic family conflict into a coherent documentary, but in this case a more experienced filmmaker/outsider might have been better suited to shape this mother lode of material.”
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Telluride ‘08: “Benjamin Button” Preview Reactions
Thoughts on David Fincher’s “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” of which 20 minutes of selected footage, “selected scenelets,” was screened for audiences at the Telluride film festival, are mixed thus far. At first I was jealous of them for seeing at least a portion of the film before everyone else, but then I started reading around and most of the reactions are downright pathetic. I guess I’d rather see it as a whole, than just get out-of-context snippets. What do the naysayers want exactly? “Fight Club 2″? Well, apparently, if you go in with that mentality you are just setting yourself up for disappointment. If you intend to read any of these reactions like I did, ensure you have a salt shaker handy. All I am saying.
08.30.08
Review: “Mamma Mia!”
“Thank You For the Music”
“Mamma Mia!” is an energetic adaptation of a beloved Broadway musical, featuring an endless stream of ABBA tracks performed by a cast with modest talent but they do so with the best of intentions. Of course, much like the stage play, it is a campy, exuberant exercise that lacks much of a story which makes it hard to take it seriously at all. It’s not even much of a film; it’s more like a stage play transposed to the lush Greek islands. What is worse, the director, Phyllida Lloyd who is accustomed to putting on stage productions, actually thinks that what works on the stage will do just as well onscreen. It is a train wreck of sorts, a manic, inconsistent flurry of forced, self-standing renditions but it is also a lighthearted, effervescent one that I admittedly enjoyed more than I disliked.
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Review: “The House Bunny”
“Being a centerfold is the highest and most prestigious honor there is,” “It says, ‘I’m naked in the middle of a magazine. Unfold me!’”
Anna Faris is comic gold, and that is common knowledge for some by now. For those who haven’t not already succumbed to her charms, those who obviously have not seen “Smiley Face,” the “Scary Movie” franchise, or her semi-serious albeit slight roles in “Brokeback Mountain” and “Lost in Translation,” meet “The House Bunny.” Ms. Faris slaps on pair after pair of sky-high stilettos and the skimpiest of outfits for her role as Shelley Darlingson – a Playboy Bunny with all the trimmings but whose age gets her kicked out of the mansion and thrown head first into her old life (she’s 27, which is 59 in Bunny years). She used to be an ugly duckling orphan, but now she couldn’t be more different. However, before the harshness of reality rears its ugly head, Shelley struts her way into a “misfit” sorority and has the chance to change more than a few lives, instead of simply beautifying them.
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“Nowhere Boy,” The Young Lennon Biopic Comes Together
Matt Greenhalgh’s, who wrote the excellent “Control,” “young Lennon” film seems to have stalled for almost a year. Until now, as it seems the film, called “Nowhere Boy,” is getting the go-ahead in a big way. To be directed by Sam Taylor-Wood, the film will focus on Lennon in his lonely teenage years where his music was the only way to escape his unfortunate domestic situation – and somewhere in between all the mayhem that was his growing up, he become a rock legend along with Paul McCarthy and the remainder of “The Beatles.” Casting for a biopic is always tricky but is also crucial that it is done right and with casting currently under way, interest will no doubt be summoned at TIFF this year. [THR]
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Venice ‘08: “The Burning Plain”
The first of eleven films in competition, Guillermo Arriaga’s “The Burning Plain” has some calling it the one to beat for the Golden Lion, which is not hard seeing as it is the only in competition film shown so far. It is, nonetheless, worth looking out for. If nothing else, it will be interesting to see how Arriaga handles his directorial debut without the help of with Alejandro González Iñárritu, as the two fought it out publicly over who should be credited for the ingenuity of “Amores Perros,” “28 Grams” and “Babel” which Arriaga wrote. I am a sucker for those magically interweaving story lines that join to form a multi-character exanimation, and for what it is worth, it seems as though this one is not nearly as bleak as “21 Grams” or even “Babel,” both of which I loved. And apparently my home-girl Charlize Theron is representing, as always, some are saying her and Basinger could both make trips to the podium this year. Now wouldn’t that be something.
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08.28.08
Weekend Attractions (29 – 31 August ‘08)
Films opening in South Africa this weekend:
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Jerusalema
This South African film tells the story of a self-made Sowetan entrepreneur climbing the Hillbrow criminal underworld ladder one rung at a time. All Lucky Kunene ever wanted was a BMW 7-series and a house with a sea view. But, born into a poor family in Soweto in the dying years of Apartheid, the odds were stacked against him, and working a menial, dead-end job was never an option for this ambitious, talented and impatient young man. You see, to Lucky Kunene and many of his generation, battling the police is a badge of honour, and doing time in jail is an everyday reality. But when the opportunity of a life time comes along, what will he make of it? Welcome to the new Jerusalem. Enter with caution.
I always remain optimistic when it comes to South African films, I have to, and based on what I have heard from people who have seen this, I missed the press screening, it is actually pretty good. Fingers crossed.
Clooney Joins Reitman in going “Up in the Air”
Mr. George Clooney is in talks to star in Jason Reitman’s adaptation of Walter Kirn’s novel “Up in the Air,” 
having recently completed the script he had been working on, on and off, for five years. I have mentioned before that I am pretty hopeful in terms of the outcome of the film, as the book is one of my recent favourites. [Variety]
Clooney is set to play Ryan Bingham, a “Career Transition Counsellor,” who lives his life collecting frequent flier miles with the hopes of eventually reaching the 1 million mark. Like I have said before, he’s an odd man and I would be curious to see how Clooney handles him.
The last time a Kirn novel was adapted, the film was “Tumbsukcer” and the result left a little more to be desiered. However, with Reitman attached and Clooney sort of attached here, things could end up better this time around.
08.27.08
Venice ‘08: “Burn After Reading”
Today marks the start of one of cinema’s most classy festivals, the 65th edition of the Venice Film festival, with the out of competition screening of the Coen Brothers new film “Burn After Reading.” Hopes are always high for the Coens’ films, and this year it is no different. I have hopes, I’m sure you have hopes, I bet we all have hopes, and if you want to remain ambivalent about the film before you see it, read no further. Or, simply, burn after reading.
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Competitions: “Mamma Mia!” and “Jerusalema”
“Welcome to the Promised Land”
Fataculture and UIP are teaming up to offer two competitions this week, one for “Mamma Mia!” and one for the SA film “Jerusalema,” both of which are released this Friday.
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08.26.08
Review: “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days”
“4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days” takes place in Cristian Mungiu’s cold and uninviting Bucharest in the 1980’s, where Nicolae Ceausescu rules with an iron fist, where the supposedly lifeless souls that wander the wintry streets are enveloped in a impenetrable cloak of eviscerating angst. You are pulled into the film primarily because of the simplistic atmospheric intensity. Vividly unsentimental and powerful, Mr. Mungiu leaves ample space for deconstruction and interpretation of his arresting psychological character study. It is no doubt an inescapable tour de force and another fine addition to the already noteworthy Romanian New Wave cinematic movement.
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08.25.08
Film Festival: Out in Africa ‘08, Batting for the other team for Reel
OIA 2008: 4 – 14 September
South Africa’s pre-eminent Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, “Out in Africa,” turns 15 this year, but it is the first time that I have had anything to do with it. I got interested mainly because they screened “Water Lilies” last year, and I almost kicked myself for missing it. This year, however, I got my hands on screeners so I don’t have to worry about missing anything. I really do like the purpose of the film festival – highlighting the importance of a free continent that embodies equality, justice and understanding. Just because gay and lesbian people have the right to get married etc doesn’t mean the hostility stops there. OIA creates awareness of vital topics – the pain caused by hate crimes, prejudice, homophobia – and the festival organisers look forward to they day when they no longer need to use the festival to get such messages across. I hope they succeed too, but I would prefer it if the festival never ended.
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08.24.08
Week in Review (24/08/08)
My laptop is still broken and my internet is being a bitch, but it will hopefully be fixed by Monday. Sorry for the lack of posting, it is rather embarassing indeed. Ugh.
- Review: “XXY” (A)
- Review: “Savage Grace” (E)
- Films that opened in SA this weekend
- No one will touch Ledger’s last movie, without having seen it
- Does “Benjamin Button” need to be 3 hours long? Probably.
- Coens Prepare for “A Serious Man”
- Toronto, Finalised
- Trailering: “New York, I Love You” – which I bet I will like more than “Paris, Je T’aime,” and that is saying something.
08.23.08
Teaser Trailer: “New York, I Love You”
“New York, I Love You,” from the producer of “Paris, Je T’aime,” is the latest star-studded ode to “love and life in the city” that is made up of 12 five-minute long short films, that is slated for release next year on the 13th of February. With a list of directors and cast members (Natalie Portman, Orlando Bloom, Christina Ricci, Shia LaBeouf, Irfan Khan, Julie Christie, John Hurt, Hayden Christensen, Rachel Bilson, Chris Cooper, Drea de Matteo, Ethan Hawke, Kevin Bacon and Olivia Thirlby) that is enough to make me, and anyone else I am sure, drool, it is set to be a highlight of next year for sure. It shall make an appearance at this year’s Toronto film festival as a sort of sneak peak, as it is not yet completed, and I shall be extremely jealous of anyone who gets to see it that soon. [Natalie Portman.com]
Songs in trailer: Mika – “Love Today,” Regina Spektor – “Fidelity” and Feist – “1234″
