11.29.08
Review: “Trouble the Water”
When filmmakers Carl Deal and Tia Lessin set out to create a documentary about the National Guard soldiers in Louisiana, who had left one disaster site in the form of Iraq to come home where their entire lives had been washed away by Hurricane Katrina, they were forced to change focus when they lost their access rights. Fortunately for them, when searching for a backup story at the Red Cross shelter, hopeless, their luck soon changed as they crossed paths with husband and wife, Scott and Kimberly Roberts. Mere days before then, Kimberly, armed with a boisterous personality and a newly purchased camcorder, found herself right in the heart of the storm.
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11.28.08
Review: “Rachel Getting Married”
From beginning to end, there is an inherent awkwardness in watching Jonathan Demme’s return to form (in a big, but small and intimate way) “Rachel Getting Married.” It is probably because it feels so authentic, and we, the audience, are simply eavesdropping on a series of conversations and interactions that we probably should not be. Just like an honest slice of life, the Buchman family has had more than their fair share of vicissitudes over the years, where bonds have been tested and the ties that bind have been all but severed. And we unreservedly follow them, even at times when we would rather not, until the film and the audience almost become one.
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11.25.08
It’s A Marathon, Not A Sprint, And Right Now, I’m Coming Stone Last
As some of you are aware, Fataculture has experienced a few technical difficulties behind the scenes recently, and that halted any output from my side, uncharacteristically so. Call it a blessing in disguise if you will, I’ve had some time to think things over a bit and I’ve come to some rather comforting (for me) conclusions. Also, I’ve been seeing an awful lot of films and will continue to do so hopefully in the coming weeks (most of them you have all seen, but I have/had not) without the added pressure of having to write about them. Because, like it or not, writing about them does come with its own pressures. Pressure that I don’t need, you know? Not the type of pressure that pushes you to work a little harder or try to be a little better either. Just plain and simple crippling pressure with a capital P.
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11.21.08
‘Adventureland’ Trailer & Kristen Stewart and Nikki Reed To Play Gay Men In A Prison?
Trailer overload much? Totally. But whatever, something I have been looking forward to for quite sometime is Greg Mottola’s first feature after “Superbad,” titled “Adventureland.” It is a somewhat autobiographical riff about a recent college graduate (played by Jesse Eisenberg of “The Squid and the Whale”) who ends up stuck with what seems to be the lamest summer job ever: working at the local amusement park (after his parents are unable to pay for his Euro trip).
Until he realises there is a lot more to Adventureland than he thought at first: quite a lot more actually, and her name is Em (played by Kristen Stewart, with a healthy looking glow, which I’m certainly feeling). Also starring the ever amazing Kristen Wiig, Ryan Reynolds, Martin Starr and Bill Hader, “Aventureland” is open to members of the public on the 27th of March next year.
Speaking of Kristen Stewart – “Twilight” is opening this weekend so who the hell isn’t? – according to MTV, she and “Twilight” co-star Nikki Reed will be teaming up to play a boy and a man respectively in the drama/comedy mixture “K-11,” the title of which refers to a section of the LA county jail where gay inmates are housed. Kristen’s mother Jules Stewart will direct the film which will begin shooting in January, and Jason Mewes will co-star.
Trailer: Atom Egoyan’s Thought Provoking ‘Adoration’
It has been almost two weeks since I saw Atom Egoyan’s Cannes-featured “Adoration,” and I am still entirely unsure of my feelings towards it. It is contemplative and redolent, evocative and convoluted, and not at all the film I pictured it to be whatsoever. It unfolds like a mystery; with small facets revealed until it finally, all makes sense.
However, once it does, you realise that it is essentially an uneasy mixture of insightful, thought provoking ideas that, when gelled together, are basically commonplace. Tackling the intricacies of connection, real or imagined, it focuses on the fragile nature of reality versus façade in an age where technology and the ease of online broadcast make anything possible; including rewriting your life story.
It’s a fable where the sum of its parts is far more mediocre than the fragmented ideas are themselves, if that makes any sense. Nevertheless, up until the final few scenes, where all is revealed, it’s a strong, dynamic film I could have easily loved had it maintained its provocative deception without becoming didactic.
Perhaps I simply expected more from the maker of “The Sweet Hereafter,” but that in itself is understandable. You can watch the trailer below, and don’t just take my word for it, it is still an interesting film, a good film even, maybe. But just not as good as it could have been, considering its spirited (and sometimes over-dramatic) intentions.
Lo and Behold, I Give You: ‘The Wrestler’ Trailer
Fox Searchlight has given Variety exclusive dibs on the trailer to “The Wrestler,” the Darren Aronofsky-directed film that everyone is touting as the comeback for actor Mickey Rourke. And with good reason, he’s excellent in it and very-deserving of the Oscar. We love this trailer too, it starts out rockin’ with Quiet Riot’s “Bang Your Head (Metal Health Will Drive You Mad),” but quickly moves to the personal, somber tone of the film which is about shame, loss, struggling with ones identity, loneliness and finding your place in the world. It truly brings up back to the emotional moments of the movie that are really raw, honest and sometimes really painful.
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11.20.08
Funny People’s Table Read
Vanity Fair have this cool table reading piece on Judd Apatow’s “Funny People,” where the cast sat down together and, well, read through the script. It’s interesting to note that the RZA of the Wu Tang was there. We didn’t realize his part was so big. Even Aziz Ansari from “Human Giant” isn’t there and he surely has much more acting experience than the RZ (larger image version here).
“Doing table reads is one of my favorite parts of the process,” Apatow told Variety. “It gives me an opportunity to watch the movie before we’ve made it. It’s fun and productive, but truly painful when it’s not working.
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11.19.08
Trailer: ‘Nothing But the Truth’
Perhaps an Oscar contender, perhaps not, Rod Lurie’s “Nothing But The Truth” sees the Valerie Plame story loosely adapted for the big screen with Kate Beckinsale playing a newspaper reporter who compromises the identity of a CIA agant (played by Vera Farmiga) and is imprisoned for refusing to reveal her source. Matt Dillon, Alan Alda, David Schwimmer, Angela Bassett also star in what The Playlist calls a “pretty impressive for a straight-ahead drama,” singling out Beckinsale’s turn as “a powerhouse performance,” and I think it would be particularly interesting if Beckinsale, kinda underrated even she doesn’t exactly pick the most fascinating of roles to play most of the time, walks off with an Oscar nomination.
11.18.08
New ‘Wild Things’ Photo, AICN Talks to Spike Jonze
Things have been rather quiet in the “Where The Wild Things Are” rumour/news mill for quite some time now, hinting at the fact that the film is totally on track to meet its 16 October ‘09 release date without hindrance. AICN sat down to talk at length with director Spike Jonze and editor Eric Zumbrunnen, revealing a new pic from the mysterious film, shot by “Lost In Translation” and “Marie Antoinette” cinematographer Lance Acord. Jonze calls Acord’s work “some of the best work he’s ever done,” and that is saying something.
Basically, the film (which has added Billy Bob Thornton’s voice to one of the characters) has wrapped editing and all it needs now is for the visual effects and mixing to be completed, with the frightening aspect of the film as first evident in test screenings no longer applicable, a melancholy disposition as featured in the film’s screenplay taking over it (thank god).
Jonze said the following about the “feel” of the film, “From the beginning, I wanted it to feel a certain way. I wanted it to feel ‘real,’ or not-real because it’s not ‘real,’ I wanted it to feel like… like when I was a kid, and I would play with my Star Wars action figures, or read Maurice’s books and imagine me being Mickey in IN THE NIGHT KITCHEN, or whatever it was… it felt like it was everything, you know? It’s like your imagination is so convincing to yourself that… you’re there, you’re in it. And I wanted this movie to take it as seriously as kids take their imagination and not, like, fantasy it up. So I think it just started from that feeling, that it could feel like you were there with them, like Max was there with them, and not just in some fantasy movie.”
I could totally pull quotes from the interview all day long (The Playlist already did a great job of that) because it is basically one of the best interviews I have ever read, so never mind how annoyingly weird and boring AICN usually is and get your ass over there to read the interview. And share in my extreme anticipation for the 16th of October ‘09 to hurry up and come already. [AICN, via The Playlist]
Reviews Of ‘Australia’ From Down Under Range From Mostly Positive To Mixed
The Aussies have naturally seen Baz Luhrmann’s “Australia” before the rest of the world and it seems, much like “Revolutionary Road,” that the opinions on the film are semi-divided (keep in mind it is two reviews, albeit from major papers). However, no one seems to be taking it to task how the Hollywood Reporter did with Sam Mendes’ latest. The Aussies seem to be defensive about the director fucking up a historical story about their country for the rest of the world, but skepticism aside it seems like he mostly achieved this.
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Best Documentary Oscar Shortlist Revealed; ‘Man on Wire’ Is So The Frontrunner
AMPAS have released yet another shortlist, this time for the category of Best Documentary feature, always a pretty unpredictable category in my books, but much like the Animated Feature shortlist released a while back, there is yet again a film that I think will have no problem taking home the gold regardless of its competition; Man on Wire. Having not seen it yet myself, although I will be in early December, I am going on the major critical consensus as well as the opinions of my fellow bloggers who have all expressed their high regard for it.
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11.17.08
New ‘Benjamin Button’ Posters, Not A Lock For ‘Oscar,’ Variety Pre-view?
Not a review, per se, so it’s evidently ok under the embargo, but IndieWire’s Eugene Hernandez gives some thoughts on “The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button,” a film causing quite the stir with some not prepared to hear that it’s anything less than utter genius.
“While I feel that “Benjamin Button” is, on first viewing, hardly a lock for best picture, the attention that will justifiably be paid to its considerable technological achievements could sweep it into the higher profile categories. (”Forrest Gump” was popular with the Academy and there are some parallel’s here). But, as I was telling a friend today, for a much more striking and beautiful marriage of technology and ideas, I’d encourage folks to watch “WALL-E” again.”
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11.13.08
Review: “Synecdoche, New York”
As a lover of cinema, venturing out to witness what you later consider to be a work of art unfold before your eyes without encumbrance, a dense but intimate puzzle in this case, and have it ruminate in your subconscious where your understanding of it shifts and changes with the ticks of time is one of the greatest gifts of life. However, when it comes to the work of Charlie Kaufman, there is less to “understand” than there is to feel, to be immersed in his idiosyncratically personal and layered examinations of the bookends of life; birth, more often an “awakening” of sorts than a physical birth, death, be it the decay of body, spirit or mind, and the realities in between; the grim, the cheerful, the true that incise themselves into becoming the definition of what it means to be alive, as scary as that can be.
In Kaufman’s first foray into directing with “Synecdoche, New York,” he achieves a balance between real and the surreal in his creation of immense scope, fearless ambition and naked intimacy by plunging into the metaphysical depths of the human condition where few modern directors dare to probe. When Kaufman pens a screenplay, no matter who is commissioned to direct his vision on screen, there is always an underlying and perhaps overwhelming unwillingness to conform to the ideals of casting the real world in a light more comfortably befitting to the medium of film. What he does is make the magical seem tangible, the profound seem like common knowledge, and the most isolated, absurdist of stories in the written form into deeply distressing but relatable films.
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Hollywood Riffs: ‘Dark Knight’ Score Disqualified for Oscar Consideration
APMAS has decided that the “The Dark Knight” score is ineli
gible for Oscar consideration, just like “Batman Begins,” because its music cue sheet listed five names as composers, not exactly uncommon practice because it ensures all personal involved in a film’s music composition and design get the royalties they deserve, – Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard as well as Alex Gibson (music editor), Mel Wesson (music designer) and Lorne Balfe (composer), the latter three all signed an affidavit that would ensure it remained common knowledge that Zimmer and Howard’s work formed the basis of the score.
However, apparently somewhere between 30% and 40% of the score was not written by Zimmer and Howard. I mean, I had heard around town that the score would probably be disqualified anyway, so it isn’t a surprise, but seeing it in black and white and seeing it disqualified for such reasons bugs me. Its one of the greatest scores of the year, perhaps even the decade. Outrage here we come… [Slashfilm and Variety]
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11.12.08
The Curious Case of High School Life Continues To Drag My Spirit Down Under
Lessons for future movie-freaks before they move on to high school:
1. Don’t even bother going to conventional school, socialising is not half as important as people make it out to be; opt for home schooling.
2. If home schooling isn’t for you, i.e. not what your parents envisioned for your academic career, make sure you have a reliable doctor who can write you sick notes on call so you can miss pesky exams, tests, assignments and go to special screenings of special movies instead.
Special screenings, for example, like “Australia” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” happening this week in SA, and because I am not home schooled nor is my doctor reliable, I’ll be getting raped by a mathematics exam instead of seeing two of the year’s most anticipated films. Joy! Seeing as half the American “elite press” got their knickers in a knot and nearly exploded for not having seen them yet (because, Heavens only knows; until they see something super early and crap out “First!” word evaluations that serve no other purpose than to raise hit counts, the world could end at any minute), I thought I might just tell you all super nicely to shut the frak up because you aren’t the only people on this planet who aren’t seeing them as early as it would suit you.
Otherwise, here is what I have seen recently: “Elegy,” “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” “Adoration,” “Genova,” “Synecdoche, New York” and “Trouble the Water.” I will review them as soon as I can, but exams come first, so perhaps some of them will only be up in December. That’s cool, right?
