Thursday, January 31, 2008

Top 15 Songs of January 2008

1. Chris Brown- With You


2. Ryan Star- Last Train Home


3. Kate Voegele- Kindly Unspoken


4. Natasha Bedingfield- Chasing Cars


5. Kelly Rowland- Daylight


6. Gary Allen- Watching Airplanes


7. The Dream and Rihanna- Livin A Lie


8. Graham Colton- Always In Love


9. Billy Ray Cyrus and Miley Cyrus- Ready, Set, Dont Go


10. The Moldy Peaches- Anyone Else But You


11. Kanye West- Flashing Lights


12. Susan Cagle- Manhattan Cowboy


13. Alicia Keys- Tell You Something


14. Paolo Nutini- Rewind


15. Group 1 Crew- Forgive Me

Monday, January 28, 2008

The Orphanage

As if more proof were needed that the best way to make a scary movie is through atmosphere, pacing and storytelling, rather than sudden violence, needless gore and random shocks, here comes "The Orphanage." Produced (in part) by Guillermo del Toro, it bears some of his visual style and restraint, as well as an interest in the terrors of childhood. Director J.A. Bayona, his first feature, immediately earns a spot alongside fellow Spanish-speaking author, del Toro and as an expert at using classic horror cliches to produce all-new chills.

"The Orphanage" takes place in the oh-so-familiar confines of a dilapidated mansion. The place was once a home for parentless children, where now-middle-aged Laura (Belen Rueda) spent her early years. She's now returned, husband Carlos (Fernando Cayo) and adopted HIV+ son Simon (Roger Princep) in tow, having bought the place with the intention of turning it into a home for disabled youths. A worthy ambition, but one that, needless to say, bumps up against the building's troubled past.

Have we mentioned that the orphanage rests on a seaside scape compelte with lighthouse, near a cave that floods at high tide? Or that Simon develops an especially vivid imaginary friend shortly after his arrival? Or that Laura discovers a gaunt old woman creeping about in the tool shed one night? Or that theres a pyshcic? Well, those creepy developments are the tip of the terrifying iceberg compared with the appearance of a very disturbed kid wearing a ripped burlap sack over his head.

One huge difference between films in the del Toro universe "Pan's Labyrinth" and those in Hollywood's is the likelihood of a happy ending. Especially when kids are involved, American horror movies like to put the tykes in peril, but almost never do the grimmest of outcomes occur, so we're conditioned not to take juvenile danger seriously. Anyone who's seen del Toro's work, however, knows that youngsters are not immune to the bad things that stalk this and other worlds. Without this safety net, "The Orphanage" reaches truly terrifying heights as it becomes clear how possible the worst outcome can be. Like "Pan's Labyrinth," this is a movie about children made very much for adults.

By a wide margin, J.A. Bayona's "The Orphanage" delivers more goose bumps than anything Hollywood has served up in years – which I hope does not mean that Bayona, a first-time feature director will be enlisted to direct "Saw V." Produced by Guillermo del Toro ("Pan's Labyrinth"), it's about Laura (Belén Rueda), a mother who purchases an orphanage that she hopes to restore as a haven for disabled children. But she didn't reckon on the spirits of the children who are already occupying the place, are the same children who she grew up with in the orphanage. Bayona draws on everything from "Peter Pan" to Henry James's "The Turn of the Screw," but it has a creepiness that's all its own.

This film lures us in with extraordinary subtlety. Keeping sound effects and incidental music to a relative minimum, it builds its suspense almost subliminally. So when something scary or shocking does occur -- deprived of those Hollywood-style cues -- we are truly startled. And let me just say, I have honestly never been so completely creeped out in a movie theater. I literally had chills and goosbumps the entire film.By exploring the psychological terrain of a haunted woman (we are forever wondering if these apparitions are part of Laura's imagination), the movie brings a dimension of reality into this otherworldly situation. This brings us into far more believable, and hence disturbing, intimacy with the other side, that mystical realm that draws us to horror movies and which continues to perplex everyone. Possibly the best "scary movie" I've ever seen.

A

The Abstinence Teacher


Tom Perrotta supposedly has the special ability to "skewer his character’s inconsistencies and faults even as he has compassion on their life." In The Abstinence Teacher, Perrotta once again displays his natural voice as a writer and moves the story along smoothly.

But this story doesn’t really go anywhere, and nothing revelatory occurs. In observing the issues of evangelicalism and sexual freedom, only Ruth and Tim seem like genuine people, with the rest of the story and characters feeling a bit stereotypical. Ruth’s best friends are two gay men who may have the best working relationship in the novel, and her two daughters are gaining an interest in Jesus even as their mom is being criticized by the church for teaching a sex-ed class at the local high school.

Tim is a recovering druggy and alcoholic who had to turn to Jesus to overcome his addictions, but is finding his new Christian wife lifeless and his pastor a bit overzealous. It’s just another day in relative paradises and hells where people attempt to “find themselves” and the only meaningful thing isn’t belief or unbelief, but finding a connection with someone in the mirage of content adulthood. Great, thats nice, such a cliche.

Despite its faults, I still felt for Ruth and Tim. The Abstinence Teacher could be a good sort of indie-film. Diverse groups could benefit from hearing these characters’ thoughts and talking about the issues. Just as long as they abstain from assumptions and feel the freedom to listen and share.

Tom Perrotta once again focuses his observant eye and listening ear to white suburbia in The Abstinence Teacher. Here the conflict is between Ruth Ramsay, a high school sex education teacher who is seeing her curriculum tightened and restrained by a surge of born-again Christian outcry, and Tim Mason, her daughter’s soccer coach who has the team join him in prayer after a game to the chagrin of disapproving parents. Their worlds collide, and Perrotta has a few moments of genuine understanding, but it all feels a little too expected and a bit played out.

While the book is somewhat ambitious, I feel like I could seriously write a better novel on the issue. The main issue I have with this book is, there should be a much larger focus on Ruth, shes supposed to be the main characer, yet 75% of the novel is from Tim's point of view. There’s no real climax and the characters seem to meander and fall to common ground instead of earning resolution

B-

Friday, January 25, 2008

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

A Thousand Splendid Suns

Khaled Hosseini is a remarkable storyteller. For someone with so much skill, it's astonishing that, at age 42, he has only two novels under his belt.

Hosseini's second novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, is a riveting story, this time focused on two Afghan women, Mariam and Laila. The novel is again set against the turbulent backdrop of Afghanistan, but this time Hosseini focuses on mother-daughter relationships and the bond between close women friends. It's a fascinating subject, especially considering the appalling history of oppression of women in Afghanistan.

Mariam, the elder of the two main characters, is born a harami, or illegitimate child, in 1959 in the town of Herat. To avoid public disgrace, her father dispatches Mariam and her mother to a small shack on a hillside outside of town. Mariam lives there until she turns 15, at which time she is married off to a man from Kabul.

Though Mariam's husband, Rasheed, is not liberal, many men in Kabul are. During the reign of the monarchy, women are allowed to go to school and to work. In Kabul, Mariam sees women dressed in high heels, their heads uncovered. Rasheed, though, demands that Mariam wear a burqa. "The padded headpiece felt tight and heavy on her skull," Hosseini writes, "and it was strange seeing the world through a mesh screen. She practiced walking around her room in it and kept stepping on the hem and stumbling. The loss of peripheral vision was unnerving, and she did not like the suffocating way the pleated cloth kept pressing against her mouth."

Hosseini writes from Mariam's perspective perfectly, unaffected by the gender barrier. Her character is believable and empathetic, revealing the devastating realities of life for women in Afghanistan. And Mariam's situation is particularly dire; she is twice an outsider - first as a harami and second as a woman in a Muslim country. She lives with a terrifying lack of safety.
In Part Two of the novel, Hosseini writes from Laila's perspective. Laila is born in Kabul in 1978, the night of the coup, a year before the Soviets invade the country. She is born into a liberal family; her father is a teacher and fosters her education. He tells her that women have always had it hard in Afghanistan, "but they're probably more free now, under the communists, and have more rights than they've ever had before."

Laila is only 10 years old when the jihadists defeat the communist regime. In 1992, she watches the last Soviet convoy leave the city and the country fall into civil war. She is 14 years old when her childhood love, Tariq, flees to Pakistan with his family. Soon after, a rocket slams Laila's house, killing both of her parents. Laila regains consciousness in the home of her neighbor, Rasheed. Mariam is fixing her wounds.

The two characters, Mariam and Laila, thus come together in Part Three. The tension rises quickly as Mariam realizes that Rasheed intends to marry Laila. She is furious and helpless. Rasheed, 60 years old, white-haired and sagging, rests his ashtray on his belly. He says, contentedly, that there aren't many options for the 14-year-old girl. "She can leave. I won't stand in her way. But I suspect she won't get far. No food, no water, not a rupia in her pockets, bullets and rockets flying everywhere. How many days do you think she'll last before she's abducted, raped, or tossed into some roadside ditch with her throat slit? Or all three?"

Rasheed is a contemptible character, embodying much of the corruption rampant in Afghanistan. In 1996, he welcomes the Taliban to Kabul, bringing both his wives, Mariam and Laila, and Laila's daughter, Aziza, to Pashtunistan Square to see the celebration. "When Aziza saw, she let out a shriek and buried her face in Mariam's burqa." A bearded young man stood on a platform with a rocket launcher. Beside him, Hosseini writes, "two bloodied men hung from ropes tied to traffic light posts... Their bloated faces had turned purple-blue."

As in The Kite Runner, Hosseini's second novel contains tense, violent scenes. Hosseini's writing, however, has become more sophisticated. While The Kite Runner was only slightly better, Hosseini's latest feels more crafted, more steeped in context and character rather than events. The tension of the novel arises naturally from the desperation of the situation of women in Afghanistan. And the twists and turns of the plot are not sugar coated in any way. In fact, the book is difficult to ge through, in that some of the situations these women are put it are so horrible to read.

A Thousand Splendid Suns is an important, provocative work. The rich and violent history of Afghanistan provides a haunting backdrop that informs and adds to the story. Hosseini's characters, Mariam and Laila, are unforgettable; their compassion for each other and love for their children is devastating. Hosseini has succeeded in writing another epic tale.


A

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Cloverfield

The last sentence uttered before all hell breaks loose is, "Forget about the rest of the world and hold onto the ones you care about." (Or something like that) Though probably unintentional, those words of brotherly advice – spoken to a lovesick young yuppie named Rob – perfectly sum up the prevalent attitude in New York: the world’s spinning into a cataclysm of total war and catastrophic climate change, but fuck it; let’s party and get ours. And in Cloverfield, the well-connected young Manhattanites at the story’s center do indeed get theirs, just not the way Gossip Girl said they would.

And boy is it a blast to watch them get it. From the first shaky, handheld frame, looking out of a deluxe apartment in the Time Warner Center onto Central Park, you’ll be itching for it, and as you’re forced to sit through their totally boss going-away party for Rob – all seen through one bro’s sloppily-handled video camera – the anticipation becomes almost unbearable. By the time that massive beast slouches toward lower Manhattan, bowling the head of the Lady Liberty with a nonchalance befitting the Bush administration, you’ll be almost as bloodthirsty as the monster. All the emotions and experiences of 9/11 are present in "Cloverfield," from the destruction of a beloved symbol of New York City to the utter terror and confusion, cell phone disruption, clouds of dust billowing down city corridors and the horrible unknown of loved ones's fates. But even if you take away none of this, the movie will still work for anyone who could not care less about political metaphors, because it's a blast.

"It’s no accident that Cloverfield, which opens Friday, is not seen through the eyes of social workers and busboys. Our heroes here are the self-absorbed young Turks buying the condos, crowding the Meatpacking district and pricing the rest of us out of town" – and as depicted in Cloverfield they can be just a little annoying at times. (Especially the cameraman.) This absence of empathy is screenwriter Drew Goddard’s smartest move in what turns out to be a very smart script – with this much relentless tension in a movie, it’s nice not to care so much about the monster’s quarry. And the action is so brutally immediate you'll actually be much more concerned with saving your own skin.

Cloverfield is exactly the engrossing, top-shelf disaster porn we'd hoped for. Producer J.J. Abram’s risky gambit to make a monster movie solely from the vantage point of victims on the ground, "to see it not from God’s eye or a director’s or from an omnipotent point of view" succeeds greatly. But be warned; the footage is entirely handheld and we’re very, very glad we didn’t see it with a hangover.

For those just joining the hypemachine, the premise of Cloverfield is that you’re watching a tape recovered by the military in Central Park in an unspecified future, documented by a few friends running from a massive, malevolent beast unleashing an army of horrid, Labrador-sized scorpion creatures who skitter through town biting any survivors who don’t get stomped by mommy. These buggers are nasty.

After an attempt to evacuate via the Brooklyn Bridge is foiled when the structure spectacularly collapses, they scramble back to Manhattan, one less in number. Through this entire first act, the monster’s glimpsed only fleetingly, but the action is wholly gripping and at times very funny; when the Statue of Liberty’s head rolls to a stop in the middle of a downtown street, a crowd of cellphone videographers immediately gather to get some killer Youtube footage.

Instead of joining the herd of refugees marching downtown, the gang of four turns uptown, where Rob’s would-be girlfriend has called for help after being trapped by falling debris. In one of the film’s more remarkable special effects, they walk through the subway tunnel only to find one tower of the Time Warner center leaning despondently against the other. As the monster savages buildings all around them, they miraculously manage to rescue the girl but… well, you kind of already know how it all ends by this point – Cloverfield "spoils" itself in the opening frame with a title card explaining where the footage was found!

But that doesn’t matter; it’s a thrilling ride with flawless special effects and, in the final minutes, one really sweet monster money shot sure to leave every fan boy in the house breathless. Our only real gripe is, couldn’t the monster have at least smashed a couple Starbucks or something. We've got enough of those to last us through any apocalypse. The bottom line is that Cloverfield manages to successfully and interestingly reinvent the genre in a huge way, at least for me, and that is a monster of an accomplishment.

A-

Monday, January 14, 2008

Run


Ann Patchett's novel Run is a holiday ghost story reminiscent of Dickens' A Christmas Carol set in contemporary Boston. Complete with crutches, snow and ghosts, Run tells the tale of two families (one poor, one of wealth and privilege) who collide in a January blizzard.

Doyle is a widower with lots to lose. He's a former Boston mayor, a respected white attorney with three adult sons. His biological son, Sullivan, is a something of a disappointment. So he has pinned his hopes on his adopted black sons, Tip and Teddy, to carry on the family tradition of public service. Tip and Teddy are college students, but Doyle keeps them close by insisting they attend political functions together as a family.

Tennessee is a single black mother with just as much at stake. Although her resources are slim she pours everything she can into her shining star of a daughter, Kenya. Kenya is an extraordinary athlete and student - full of promise - if only Tennessee can get her out of the projects and into a good school.

What happens when an unfortunate accident brings these two families together is very interesting and changes everyone. Run is a well plotted novel of faith, family and redemption, written from multiple points of view - male, female, young, old, black and white, which takes place in 24 hours. Ms. Patchett, a brave author for taking on race, class and interracial adoption, has written a feel-good book, nuanced without being sappy and ideal for curling up with on a dark winter's night.

A-

Sunday, January 13, 2008

The Kite Runner


Like other Oscar hopefuls, "The Kite Runner" is based on a best-seller, and combines elements of history with intimate drama. But working from the novel by Khaled Houssenni, which is far better, director Marc Forster and screenwriter David Benioff have taken pains to keep things human scale, and they have largely avoided the temptation to turn a hard story colorful and pleasing. As a result, their film balances pretty well.

The story centers on Amir (Khalid Abdalla), an Afghan-born writer in San Francisco who receives a call from an old family friend with a request that Amir can only fulfill in person. He agrees but then hesitates: He hasn't been to his homeland in more than 20 years, and the film brings us back to that era, when he was a lonely rich boy whose only true friend was Hassan, the son of a servant. Amir's father (Homayoun Ershadi) causes controversy in his social class for giving a home to Hassan's family, who come from a "denigrated" tribe. But he is a man of honor and refuses to allow public opinion to sway him in his loyalty.

Besides, he sees how much Amir relies on Hassan for companionship. The unwavering servant boy admires Amir's stories, and, more importantly, assists Amir in the ritual of flying and fighting kites in the skies above Kabul. Their success in this activity brings them to the attention of neighborhood bullies, one of whom brutalizes and rapes Hassan while Amir watches from a cowardly distance.

Later, the sight of his wounded friend stirs Amir's guilt so deeply that he contrives a way to rid his father's house of Hassan. And then the Russians invade, and Amir and his father flee, eventually settling in America. When a grown-up Amir visits Afghanistan to make good on the wrongs he committed as a boy, it's a wasteland ruled by the Taliban. And his once innocent childhood that was turned into something awful still wait for him.

The film is best in the 1970s section, when Forster has the spectacle of the kites and two strong child actors to play with them. Once we switch to America, the strength is mostly found in Ershadi's portrait of a man haunted by his past. The return to Afghanistan slips into clumsiness and sensationalism a bit too often.But for the most part, this is a sort of powerful film in some ways, and the decision to shoot it with virtually unknown actors and a variety of unfamiliar languages is commendable. And, too, now and again it really does soar like a kite, and for those moments it's well worth seeing. But I'd strongly suggest reading the book as opposed to seeing the movie.

B

Thursday, January 10, 2008

The Whatever Globe Awards

Seeing as this years Golden Globe awards are sort of half-assed in that there is no real ceremony. I decided I'll choose my own winners from the nominees which, lets be honest, are more deserving than anything the so called "foreign press" decides to pick.

Best Motion Picture Drama
American Gangster
Atonement
Eastern Promises
The Great Debaters
Michael Clayton
No Country For Old Men
There Will Be Blood

Will Win- No Country For Old Men
Should Win- Atonement

Best Motion Picture- Musical Or Comedy
Across The Universe
Charlie Wilsons War
Hairspray
Juno
Sweeney Todd

Will Win- Juno
Should Win- Hairspray

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
George Clooney for Michael Clayton
Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood
James McAvoy for Atonement
Viggo Mortensen for Eastern Promises
Denzel Washington for American Gangster

Will Win- Daniel Day-Lewis
Should Win- Daniel Day Lewis

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
Cate Blanchett for Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Julie Christie for Away from Her
Jodie Foster for The Brave One
Angelina Jolie for A Mighty Heart
Keira Knightley for Atonement

Will Win: Julie Christie
Should Win: Nobody (not that Cate, Julie and Keira weren't very good, but none are worthy of any sort of award.)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
Johnny Depp for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Ryan Gosling for Lars and the Real Girl
Tom Hanks for Charlie Wilson's War
Philip Seymour Hoffman for The Savages
John C. Reilly for Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

Will Win: Philip Seymour Hoffman
Should Win: I dont know.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
Amy Adams for Enchanted
Nikki Blonsky for Hairspray
Helena Bonham Carter for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Marion Cotillard for Môme, La
Ellen Page for Juno

Will Win: Amy Adams
Should Win: Amy Adams


Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture

Casey Affleck for The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Javier Bardem for No Country for Old Men
Philip Seymour Hoffman for Charlie Wilson's War
John Travolta for Hairspray
Tom Wilkinson for Michael Clayton

Will Win: Javier Bardem
Should Win: Javier Bardem

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Cate Blanchett for I'm Not There.
Julia Roberts for Charlie Wilson's War
Saoirse Ronan for Atonement
Amy Ryan for Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton for Michael Clayton

Will Win: Amy Ryan
Should Win: Amy Ryan

Best Director - Motion Picture
Tim Burton for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen for No Country for Old Men
Julian Schnabel for Scaphandre et le papillon, Le
Ridley Scott for American Gangster
Joe Wright for Atonement

Will Win: Ethan and Joel Coen
Should Win: Joe Wright

Best Television Series - Drama
Big Love
Damages
Greys Anatomy
House
Mad Men
The Tudors

Will Win: I have no idea
Should Win: Anything but Grey's Anatomy

Best Television Series - Musical or Comedy
Californication
Entourage
Extras
Pushing Daisies
30 Rock

Will and Should Win: Pushing Daisies

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy
Alec Baldwin for "30 Rock"
Steve Carell for "The Office"
David Duchovny for "Californication"
Ricky Gervais for "Extras"
Lee Pace for "Pushing Daisies"

Will Win: Ricky Gervais
Should Win: Steve Carell

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy
Christina Applegate for "Samantha Who?"
America Ferrera for "Ugly Betty"
Tina Fey for "30 Rock"
Anna Friel for "Pushing Daisies"
Mary-Louise Parker for "Weeds"

Will Win: America Ferrera
Should Win: Mary-Louise Parker

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Drama
Patricia Arquette for "Medium"
Glenn Close for "Damages"
Minnie Driver for "The Riches"
Edie Falco for "The Sopranos"
Sally Field for "Brothers & Sisters"
Holly Hunter for "Saving Grace"
Kyra Sedgwick for "The Closer"

Will and Should Win: Glenn Close

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Rose Byrne for "Damages"
Katherine Heigl for "Grey's Anatomy"
Rachel Griffiths for "Brothers & Sisters"
Samantha Morton for Longford
Anna Paquin for Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
Jaime Pressly for "My Name Is Earl"

Will Win: Katherine Heigl
Should Win: Rachel Griffiths

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Top 11 Films of 2007

The following snippets are not my own. Although the top 11 films are very much my own. I wrote a review for almost every single one of these films this year, so I dont want to go rehash everything I said. Therefore, I will use little lines of other reviews in which I agree. Which is sort of obvious, because I dont write as well as these.


1. Into The Wild


The beauty of Into the Wild, which Penn has written and directed with magnificent precision and imaginative grace, is that what Christopher is running from is never as important as what he's running to. A genuine odyssey: a journey to self-knowledge.


2. Atonement



An unforgettable examination of a host of dark impulses. Nothing comes easily in Atonement, especially its ending, which, both happy and tragic, is as wrenching as it is genuinely satisfying.


3. Superbad


For pure laughs, for the experience of just sitting in a chair and breaking up every minute or so, Superbad is 2007's most successful comedy.


4. Things We Lost In the Fire



Emotionally challenging and honest. Berry gives a riveting performance, but as a deeply decent man trapped in a hell of his own making, Del Toro gives the kind of career performance Berry gave in "Monster's Ball."


5. The Great Debaters


A triumph. Unapologetically old-school, in both the literal and metaphorical meanings of the term, Debaters overlays the story of social underdogs onto the familiar template of the stand-and-deliver saga, the staple of sports inspirationals like "Rocky," "Invincible" and "The Karate Kid."


6. Grindhouse


This monumentally pointless movie is best summarized by a line from Planet Terror: "At some point in your life, you find a use for every useless talent you have." Rodriguez, Tarantino, and Co. aim for nothing more noble than to freak the funk, and it's about godd--- time. Go wasted, go stoned, go without your parents' permission. In paying homage to an obsolete form of movie culture, Grindhouse delivers a dropkick to ours. (What a fucking fantastic review that is.)


7. Enchanted


It’s the sort of buoyant, all-ages entertainment that Hollywood has been laboring to revive in recent years but hasn’t managed to get right until now, and the glue holding it all together is the incomparable Adams (an Oscar nominee for 2005’s Junebug), who gives the kind of blissful screwball performance that seemed to go out of fashion after "I Love Lucy" left the airwaves. (Another fantastic blurb. Why cant I think of these?)


8. Knocked Up


Ultimately, what makes Knocked Up a terrific film--one of the year's best, easily--is its relaxed, shaggy vibe; if it feels improvised in places, that's because Apatow trusts his actors enough to let them make it up as they go, like the people they're playing. The very opposite of a storybook romance, and also the very model of a great comedy for our values-driven time. (Ugh, another awesome line.)


9. Hairspray


A feel-good musical that, for a change, actually makes you feel good. With its wisecracking screenplay, period-perfect pop score, and Shankman's splashy choreography, this may be the funniest, dancingest screen musical since "Singin' in the Rain."


10. Sweeney Todd


Burton brings his signature visual style, and a pair of stock players for his stars, into this film adaptation, but he wisely follows Sondheim's lead, letting the music and spirit of the original piece show the way. An evil masterpiece.


11. Gone Baby Gone


Powerful stuff - a movie that derives its plot twists from moral conundrums rather than from narrative sleight of hand.

Sunday, January 6, 2008

Atonement and Juno

Atonement


I told myself I would never see another Keira Knightley movie after "Pride and Prejudice." But because I have diagnosed myself with "film ADD," I need to see everything. Especialy everything generating some form of critical buzz. I was expecting to be bored to tears. So it is a joy to discover that Atonement, directed by Joe Wright, is every bit as magnificent as some of the best films I've ever seen.

Wright's epic extends deeper than its obvious love story, the soul of the film explores something else entirely: the arrogance and power of the imagination. They have infused the film with this crucial knowledge, and they get every detail exactly right, from the casting and the atmospheric lighting, costumes and set to the understated dialogue, to the direction and cinematography..just everything. The interpretation is so painstaking and moving that almost every moment delivers a shuddering jolt to the head and the heart.Atonement is a story about a dreadful but not wholly innocent mistake, one born of willfulness and inexperience. The drama opens to the relentless clacking of an old-fashioned typewriter -- a sound that resurfaces throughout the soundtrack. The film is full of people typing—a girl writing plays, a man composing apologies, a woman spelling out her guilt in the hope that all can be forgiven—to the point where the pounding of the keys is woven into the very score

At an estate sprawled across the English countryside not far from London, self-important, 13-year-old Briony Tallis, is writing a play. Briony (the fantastic Saoirse Ronan), aims to see her work performed. But the evening does not unfold according to her script: Briony's foolish misinterpretation of events triggers the derailment of the lives of her older sister Cecelia (Keira Knightley) and poor but educated housekeeper's son Robbie Turner (James McAvoy, sexyness)Robbie ends up a soldier in northern France, making his way to the beach for evacuation with the rest of the battered British troops. Wright hammers home his point -- that no one escapes such madness unscathed -- with a breathtaking tracking shot of Robbie and two companions staggering along the beach. Jammed with drunken or half-crazed soldiers awaiting rescue in total chaos, the beach scene provides a nightmarish, visual counterpoint in ugly contrast to the earlier, innocent scenes of youthful possibility.

Still, Atonement remains a film in which small things weigh heavily, such as fragments of speech -- a whispered ''Come back. Come back to me,'' a ''I saw him with my own eyes'' -- or the hush just before Keira and James fall hungrily into each other or the agonizing pauses in Briony's explanation of herself at the film's end. The elder Briony is played by Vanessa Redgrave, whose riveting presence adds to this finely acted miracle of a film.

The film also raises important questions about the relationship between between memory and wishful thinking, and it ends on a surprisingly powerful note that asks whether there can ever be true mercy without, well, truth. Can one find redemption in a lie, if it is told with kindness? Atonement seems to be about people who cannot let go of the past, and are haunted by the past and their knowledge that it can never be undone. Briony, in particular, is searching for forgiveness, and the fact that she can't quite find it makes Atonement one of the more devastating films in recent memory.

A


Juno


The protagonist character in Juno, a pregnant 16-year-old played with impressive verbal dexterity and heart by Ellen Page, speaks in quips and geeky references, and surrounds herself with ironic accessories like a hamburger phone and a plastic pipe. She seems on the surface the picture of carelessness, and her pregnancy by sort-of boyfriend Bleeker played by the always adorable Michael Cera, serves as the ultimate symbol of her inability to take life seriously. About 15 minutes into the film, in the funny, touching scene where she finally spills the news to her parents (wonderfully played by J.K. Simmons and Allison Janney), that first impression turns out to be entirely false. Yes, she has a snarky, above-it-all attitude, but irony is her protective shield, masking the fear, vulnerability, and compassion lurking just under the surface. She'll make a great mother someday, just not now. Or maybe she won't make a good mother, whatever.

Written by newcomer Diablo Cody, Juno will get a lot of attention for its colorful dialogue, which is at times too much for its own good, but the film's sincerity is what ultimately carries it across. Set in the indie town of Wherever, U.S.A.—Cody and director Jason Reitman go a little overboard in this regard—the film opens with Page burning through pregnancy tests, trying to shake off a "plus" sign as if, the store clerk says, she were handling an Etch-A-Sketch. She initially considers an abortion, but instead decides to give the baby up for adoption, with the consent of its perpetually awestruck father Michael Cera. Page finds a willing couple in yuppies Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman, but as she perhaps unwisely insinuates herself into their lives, she discovers some issues in their marriage.

Garner and Bateman's characters are drawn a bit too broadly—she's the henpecking, Type A, overeager supermom-to-be; he's the whipped sellout who loves Sonic Youth, and still dreams of being a rock star—but the actors do a fine job wriggling out of caricature. Garner, in particular, has found the right role to capitalize on her high-strung, hyper-driven screen persona; her excitement over being a mother would be overbearing if it weren't also so heartbreakingly sincere. That's Juno's appeal in a nutshell: It comes off as calculatedly irreverent at times, and its Juno-isms are a little too precious, but its sweetness is genuine and next-to-impossible to resist.It's got enough heart to keep the comedic elements in check. When I was done smiling at the perfect ending scene, the movie gave me something to think about, as well: Where were girls like this when I was in high school? Someone like Juno would have been fantastic.

B+

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Worst of 2007

TV

Drew Carey

As the host of Power of 10, he's perfectly adequate. But replacing Bob Barker with this emotionless fuckwit? We don't get it. He has singlehandedly brought The Price is Right down quite a few notches. I bid 0 dollars. Muahaha.

The Real Housewives of Orange County

Who knew watching a bunch of botoxed shameless harpies could be so damn boring? Not Bravo apparently.

Any Afternoon Dating show on MTV

Room Raiders, Next, Date My Mom, The Ex Factor. These are seriously the worst shows on television...ever. What was once a groundbreaking network has officially come to shit with this programming.

Grey's Anatomy

I'm over it. As should be the entire country at this point. While not nearly as horrible as the rest on this list, it's just such a shame to watch what was once a brilliant show that was ABOUT something turn into Shondafest lameness.

Sunset Tan
The tans look awful. The owners of the tanning place are in their late 30s or older and dress like fucking club hopping 20 year olds from Staten Island. They show no realistic sense of responsibility. Sigh. How do some people get on TV?



Books

The Almost Moon

This book isnt even almost good. In fact, its the worst book I've ever read to be quite honest. Ironic being that Alice Sebold's other novel "The Lovely Bones" is probably the best work of fiction I've read my entire life. The Almost Moon ends up being the worst. A story about a woman who kills her mother because she cant take it anymore, fantastizes "When I was younger, I thought everyone dreamt about chopping up their mothers body into little pieces." Um, no they dont. Christ. Get a fucking shrink Alice. Where the fuck did this come from?


Music

TImbaland, Justin Timberlake and Nelly Furtado- Give It To Me

This song makes no sense whatsoever. A forced collaboration between these 3 just didn't work. Timbaland was fine working with each of them on their own. But this song just proves the point that enough is enough.

Gwen Stefani- The Sweet Escape

I love you Gwen. In fact, you've never disappointed me until this. If I hear that god damned Akon sing "woo hoo" er whatever he does in this song one more time. I might kill him. The end.

Akon

That's all. He's horrible and talentless.


Fergie- Big Girls Don't Cry
I'll admit I liked this song at first. It's not necessarily Fergie's fault for fucking up this time. But we heard this song SOOO much on the radio this year and in commercials. Define overkill: Big Girls Dont Cry.


Nickelback- If Everyone Cared

Nobody does. Your music blows and your voice is god fucking awful.


Faith HIll- Red Umbrella
For me, the biggest Faith HIll fan alive, to publicly diss her on my blog, it must be a pretty horrible song. Once again, a song which makes no sense lyrically. Awful chorus and awful everything. I recommend downloading this just to hear how BAD this song is. Huge disappointment Faith.


Movies


Feast of Love

Feast of shit. A film that proves a good cast does not make a good movie, in fact, its probably the worst I've seen all year. It's meant to be charming and special. Instead it comes off as dumb and unaware.


Eastern Promises

The most over-rated movie of the year. A plot that is just so over-the-top. The characters make no sense given the film itself. Then something about baby in a river? I dont know. Eastern Promises is a jumbled string of mob-related clichés that mesh into something that’s derivative and uninteresting.


The Brave One
The film moves from cliché to cliché and hemorrhages blood and logic at an alarming rate. Jodie Foster, wtfwtf. You can do so much better than this.


A Mighty Heart
A Mighty Heart has the surface tension of a first-rate docudrama but neither the passion nor the vision to encompass its powerhouse subject. A real life horror story. I'd rather see a documentary of this woman.


Spider Man 3
How do you top one of the best sequals, let alone comic book films ever?(Spider Man 2) You dont. You fail miserably. Hence, Spider Man 3.

P.S. I Love The Great Debaters

The Great Debaters


It's one thing to tell people about the wounds in the fabric of this country that the Civil Rights movement attempted to repair; it's another thing to show them. Unfortunately, too many films made about racism lose power on two grounds: a tendency to sermonize and an unwillingness to show the true ugliness of what went on. Neither of those faults plagues The Great Debaters, Denzel Washington's chronicle of the rise of a debating team from a small black Texas college during the 1930s.

By highlighting themes of individual achievement against a daunting backdrop, Washington provides heroes who can be admired regardless of their race, even though skin color is a huge part of the story. More significantly, he does not shy from showing the darkest aspects of human nature. A scene in The Great Debaters is designed to shock and horrify, and it succeeds in doing so. But it is in no way exploitative; it is necessary to the understanding of the characters and their motivations, and to coming to grips with elements of the social fabric that are too often softened for mass consumption. Washington makes it evident that racism can be more ghastly than calling someone degrading names.

The movie, which is based on a true story but does not trumpet that fact in an opening caption, takes place on the campus of Wiley College during 1935. Mel Tolson (
Denzel Washington) is a social activist and English professor who forms a debate team. His initial goals are modest: face-off against other black colleges. But when the team goes on an undefeated run that includes beating one of the best black debating teams in the country, he sets his sights higher and challenges National Champion Harvard. If Harvard agrees to the contest, it will be the first time the debating team from a black college will face off against a National Champion.

Tolson's team is comprised of four very different individuals. Henry Lowe (Nate Parker) is s brash, outspoken young man whose years of reading have given him a wealth of knowledge about all topics. Samantha Brooke (the fiery Jurnee Smollett) is the only woman on the team - she believes the experience will serve her well as she struggles to become the third female black attorney in Texas. James Farmer Jr. (Denzel Whitaker) is a 14-year old prodigy whose strict work ethic is handed down from his father (Forrest Whitaker), a preacher and professor at Wiley. Finally, Hamilton Burgess (Jermaine Williams) is a conservative young man who shys away from controversy away from the debating stage. The
movie mixes the interaction of these characters with each other and their families with their debating success and their struggles to gain a measure of fairness in a country where there is little.

The Great Debaters does an excellent job forming a bond between the characters and the audience. These are not perfect individuals; they are flawed, but that doesn't prevent audiences from admiring them, especially considering the adversity they must overcome. There are also no overarching villains (John Heard plays a racist sheriff but he's only in a few scenes). Instead, we see how the poisonous social climate of the south warps the perspectives and actions of people. James must watch his proud father shame himself in front of a white man to avoid being shot. The debaters, while on a road trip with Mr. Tolson, stumble into a lynching. The event is presented with sickening reality. The ways in which each of the characters react to this incident is very interesting.

The debating sequences are effectively presented. In keeping with Tolson's description of them as a "blood sport," they are impassioned and forceful with words being used as weapons. The debates touch on issues of race, civil rights, and civil disobedience. All four students are given opportunities to shine and each has at least one instance - either on stage or away from it - when their resolve cracks. Washington is content to simmer in the background. Fellow Oscar winner Forrest Whitaker also fills a secondary part. The Great Debaters is ultimately an uplifting movie because it is about triumph. But there are harrowing moments along the way. The
journey is affecting and honest without feeling manipulative and the screenplay and direction are handled with care and sensitivity for the subject matter. This is one of the better movies in recent years to address issues of racial inequality and the way in which individuals overcome them.

A-


P.S. I Love You


P.S. I Love You is the most potent tear jerker since, well, I dont know. But I do know, and am slightly embarassed to admit, that I literally was on the brink of tears for this entire movie. There certainly hasn't been anything that makes you so happy to cry for a long time.

Right away they open with an adorable argument, where the couple tells us all their issues as they take jabs that would never come across as cute in a real fight. Still, you sense their passion, even with their fake closed mouth kisses. It gets right to the death with the funeral coming right away. Her mourning feels real and touching. A person who lost the love of their life would cling to whatever remaining tidbits of him existed. Her mourning does lead her to sing into a TV remote, which is a movie pet peeve of mine. Turning household objects into fake microphones, ugh.

Then the first of several letters arrives, all planned and prepared by Gerry before his death, each one comforting and encouraging her to let go, and start living her life. It's the same message from her mother (Kathy Bates) and friends (Lisa Kudrow, Gina Gershon), and even her mother's bartender, Daniel (Harry Connick jr). She can't quite let go, and she makes a trip to Ireland to visit Gerry's parents, where she meets the handsome William (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). But it seems that nothing and no-one can dispel her grief - she has to do it herself.

Even things that are totally obvious and cliche seem to work. Seeing Gerard Butler in scenes where she's just feeling his presence is a clear visual cue to easily make the audience feel his hotness instead of having to interpret it. When a crowded room clears out except for him, we know it's just her imagination but we get it. And this was probably one of the most affecting scenes in the film.

The wonderful ability to naturally give simultaneous laughter and tears is PS I Love You's greatest strength, as it takes us through a myriad of emotions. The screenplay flirts with the occasional overstatements of the 'lover as ghost' subgenre of romantic comedies, so we do get to see Butler after death - both as fantasy and in flashbacks. Some of the direction sails all too close to schmaltz, but it's so darned likeable and enjoyable, and the cast is so engaging we don't really care.

And like the untimely death of Holly's husband. Things dont necessarily turn out the way they are planned. The film avoids one final cliche by not getting Holly together with another man at the end. Her husband's final letter is telling her it's okay to fall in love again. Viewers assumed she'd end up with Harry Connick Jr's character, but the film ends with her realizing that she's not going to move on any time soon. We love that ending, because it's a sad reality check and not your typical Hollywood ending to a romantic comedy.

The novelty of the novel, that a dead man's pre-arranged love letters form a story structure, is well handled, although it gets a tad repetitious after a while, yet with an endearing, playful tone. It's a shamelessly escapist movie for romantic lovers and lonely hearts alike. Cynics beware.

B