Films to Looks for in NYC

A few films I've seen already to note have been released in New York City that I'd like to bring attention to.

The first is the Duplass Brothers excellent "Baghead," which I saw at the Tribeca Film Festival a few months ago. Billed as a horror comedy, this is more of a relationship comedy, and is more proof that the Duplass Brothers (and actress Greta Gerwig) are the only two worthy things in this so called "mumblecore" film making movement-but then again, I don't really count the Duplass' as mumblecore film makers.

Here's the review for the film.

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Also out is the entertaining documentary "Man on Wire," about Phillipe Petite, who decided to string a wire between the two towers of the World Trade Center and balance on them. Here is what I wrote on it after seeing it at Sundance at BAM last May.

""Man on Wire" is a consistently entertaining and even fascinating documentary which won a few prizes at the Sundance Festival earlier in the year. It's one of those stories that comes along every once in a while that really does just show that the best stories cannot be made up. And much like the main subject of "Grizzly Man," or "Deep Water," "Man on Wire" has such a fascinating main character-in this case we follow Philippe Petit, a tightrope walker who, in the 70's, attached a wire across the two World Trade Center towers and walked back and forth a few times, eventually getting arrested. Doing a mix of interviews with the actually people involved in the incident, and a reenactment, Marsh crafts a very entertaining and thoughtful story, which is even also quite intense. Although I will admit that I would have liked some more after the incident-it even hints at how Petit changed after the event and after he started getting famous, but it doesn't explore that. And I would have been curious how Petit would have felt after 9/11 occurred, with the towers being a different kind of symbol than it was for others."

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Lastly being released on Friday is "Frozen River," the next one in the endless list of films about illegal immigrant smuggling that I've seen in the last few months. Headed by a terrific performance by Melissa Leo, "Frozen River" is a tense and powerful drama, about a woman who resorts to nearly anything to provide for her family. I don't have any material written on "Frozen River" to direct you to, but I can recommend it.

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Also been released in New York is the awful "American Teen," which I was surprised at the somewhat low box office take for its first release-I was certain it would have been a big hit that I would have declared overrated for years to come. But several other critics were able to see past this cliche ridden documentary that had many obviously staged moments and situations. Here's what I wrote about it when I saw it in May.

Pineapple Express

Earlier this year I saw a film named "Snow Angels," which I found hauntingly perfect in every way. At the moment its one of the best movies of the year, and will certainly remain on my list when 2009 rolls along. The film was directed by David Gordon Green, whose filmography contains a number of independent, low-budget dramas, so it would seem a bit of an odd choice for him to direct "Pineapple Express"- a big budget, action comedy in the vein of the R-rated comedies of the decade like "Superbad" and "The 40-Year Old Virgin." So with that in mind, this is a bit of a different genre for him, but at the same time its also something a little different for Seth Rogen, whose venturing into a major genre cross. But the final result ends up being something quite hysterical and simply a grand time out.

Rogen plays Dale Denton, a process server who in his spare time smokes massive amount of pot. Not really doing much with his life in terms of taking care of himself, Dale even dates a high school senior and is jealous of the jocks who seem to hit on her on a daily basis. His dealer Saul Silver (James Franco, once again playing a character I've never seen him do) gives him a bit of a weed called 'pineapple express,' the grandfather of marijuana. All is good and fine, but when Dale spots the local drug dealing godfather and a police officer shooting his Asian rival, Dale and Saul are suddenly being hunted by some bad people. Along the way they are aided by Saul's middle man Red (Danny McBride, who was given such a boost from these guys after they loved "The Foot Fist Way"), who sometimes works for them and sometimes against, depending on whose pointing the gun.

"Pineapple Express" is a very different vehicle for Rogen, Apatow, and the gang, just in terms of the genre crossing. We know that Seth Rogen writes some great comedy, but is it possible that there could be some great and funny action in here as well? Its proven quite early on with an extended car chase, and sealed even later during a huge set piece in a shipping barn. Rogen and Franco have great chemistry as well, giving us a very strong buddy element as well. Rogen does his thing well, but its Franco whose the real revelation here. After playing a rather stale straight man in the "Spider-Man" films, Saul is a role that Franco could really sink his teeth into, and its clear that he is having a fun time playing him. With his long hair, his 70's drug dealing clothes, and his yellow head band (which I learned was added to the wardrobe after James Franco cut his head during a stunt scene), its even funny to just look at him. Danny McBride is really just doing a rehash of his somewhat irritably likable character in 'The Foot Fist Way," and is good at providing a balance between the two so that he isn't intolerable. And the last performer to note is Craig Robinson, of "The Office" fame, who provides very strong laughs as one of the men after the two, certainly stealing that subplot of the film.

The film is absurd and ridiculous, but that really ends up being its charm. Built under the concept of "what if the lead characters in these action films where just high the entire time?" its quite obvious that at its core this is just a satire of action films. While not as smart as the similarly executed "Hot Fuzz," there are some very memorable characters, jokes, and action sequences here. I was actually quite surprised at the amount of violence here, and they cross the line several times (for example, when one of the characters shoots the foot off of a character already dead.) However the finale, however over the top and insane, is really constantly entertaining and enjoyable. There is a rather nice buddy relationship between the two main characters, but a very strong difference between this and "40-Year Old Virgin," "Superbad," or "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," is the lack of the unexpected depth and heart out of the characters. This isn't a negative thing, but this is the first time an Apatow produced comedy goes over the top and actually is successful doing it, unlike the awful "Drillbit Taylor" or "You Don't Mess with the Zohan." As expected, there is a fair share of improv here, mostly the final scene which has Saul, Dale, and Red sitting in a diner discussing their adventures. At nearly three minutes in length they do a quick recap of nearly the entire movie, done in a way that doesn't feel like a waste of time, but like comedic genius. 

Not all of the comedy works of course. The opening scene, set in the 1930's, shows experimentation with various forms of weed. The scene is shot in black and white and given a B-movie feel (the Columbia Pictures logo is even in black and white), but the scene really serves no other purpose than to give Bill Hader something to do in the film. It wasn't a very good opener, and didn't set the bar very high for the rest of the movie. Another scene that doesn't really seem to work is a very long fight scene in Red's apartment between the three leads, which eventually overstays its welcome and isn't a very good introduction to the Red character. It's small quips here and there that can't make "Pineapple Express" perfect, but in the stoner genre, many people will be massively content with the finished product.

And lastly, how is David Gordon Green's direction? Tackling such a different genre and jumping into the mainstream at the same time is a bold move, but Green segways very well. It's somewhat hard to believe that the director of his film could have once directed such a powerful and realistic drama like "George Washington," but it even has his same style and feel. This isn't nearly the masterpiece that "Snow Angels" was (however much I'm in the minority of that), but it proves that he does have range and can jump into this strong comedy and be successful. 

"Pineapple Express" opens August 6th everywhere.

***1/2 of ****

The Dark Knight

I really did not have many expectations for "The Dark Knight," despite finding the trailer somewhat good. I honestly was not a fan of "Batman Begins," even though there was so much love and affection for it, with critics and Batman fans alike both proclaiming it the Batman movie to end all Batman movies. Rewatching it in preparation for "The Dark Knight" still had me wondering what the big deal was. After seeing this sequel, I have put more faith in Christopher Nolan's "Batman" vision, and he somehow magically fixed all of the problems that I had with his first film. "The Dark Knight" is an excellent super-hero movie, which works beyond the realm of the super-hero genre and into the realm of a great crime film. There are not many large set pieces in this film, and Batman only appears for a small handful of time, but its the drama that elevates this film-much like the drama elevated "Spider-Man 2," only this is bigger and better and almost flawless in execution. 

The film starts off right where 'Begins" left, only Batman isn't leaving the type of impact that he expected. People are still somewhat doubting him in Gotham, and he has brought out a bunch of copycat vigilantes-the difference being that they kill the bad guys, breaking Batman's primal rule. Our bad guy here is The Joker, played by the late Heath Ledger, who approaches mob bosses telling them that he'll kill the Batman if they give him half of their money. The mob men have become scared of the Batman, meeting in daylight to avoid coming into contact with him. Meanwhile Bruce Wayne/Batman begins to see hope in retiring in the form of Harvey Dent, the Distract Attorney of Gotham (played by Aaron Eckhart) who is known as the White Knight of Gotham. Dent has an agenda to destroy the crime spree and save Gotham, but he also happens to be dating Rachel Dawes, Bruce's childhood love (this time around played by Maggie Gyllenhaal, taking over for Katie Holmes who had to decline this because she wanted to film "Mad Money.") 

There are several plot twists here and there, the biggest one really being the fate of Harvey Dent (but those that know even a small bit about the Batman story will know that Dent ends up becoming Two-Face.) As mentioned, all of my problems with "Batman Begins" were remedied here. To begin with, Nolan was able to find a better actress than Katie Holmes to play the love interest. While I'm still not on the edge of my seat with them getting together (as I was with the love story in "Spider-Man") Gyllenhaal is much more competent of an actress than Holmes (although I'm still not her biggest fan either.) The Joker (and even Two-Face) are far more interesting bad guys than The Scarecrow ever will be. And the action sequences here actually were visible. One of my biggest qualms with "Batman Begins" was that I couldn't see anything-Nolan had an edit nearly every second during them, and the picture was so black it was nearly impossible to make anything out. Here Nolan allows the camera to stick around for a bit, and also gives us enough light to really make out what is happening. Darkness is used at really pivotal times, such as to cover up the deformed side of Two-Face, or to really show The Joker at his most fiendish (although he does stick out like a sore thumb with that white make-up.) And the action set pieces (few and somewhat far between) are really a wonder to behold, especially a car chase scene which uses very little CGI. 

Nearly all the lead acting is perfection. Bale makes a terrific Bruce Wayne, although sometimes the booming Batman voice seems a bit forced through. Ledger (whose been getting Oscar buzz since his death in January) is gleefully insane, and an extremely memorable villain-giving us a nice balance of dark comedy and insane madness. He doesn't steal the show, as there is good work by everybody involved. Eckhart is tragically powerful during the emotional parts of Dent's story. And the rest of the high profile cast-Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, and Gary Oldman-all get their moment to shine. When "Batman Begins" was released, Christian Bale really wasn't much of an A-Lister, so they surrounded him with vet actors.  This is fine, but their work in "Batman Begins" really did seem like it was just there to give the film a boost. But all of them get their little moment here, especially Oldman, whose Gordon really gets a few applause worthy moments. The film is packed with events and characters, but it never seems overloaded with them, which was the case with the flawed, but entertaining, "Spider-Man 3."

What does end up change "The Dark Knight" from any other super-hero film was its realism. It doesn't go the over the top route as the other Batman films (which isn't a negative, this is just a different approach). It is dark and dramatic-the Joker's origins aren't explained by some kind of toxic accident like we were told in the other Batman film. Instead we are left to always wonder what made The Joker who he is-and his origin story about his scars which he says from time to time is always different. Ledger is actually doing a sick criminal, whose theories about chaos are grimly fascinating. It makes me mad when I read reviews that suddenly compare Ledger's performance to Jack Nicolson's by badmouthing the Nicolson one. They are two completely different approaches to the story-even Nolan's vision of the film is different from the Burton one. There is no need to suddenly act negative towards those early two films, which just looks at the Batman action in a different way-which is through extreme camp instead of it being an intense crime drama. This is not the smooth Point A to Point B type of super-hero tale that we've seen before-there is true and genuine chaos here, and there are moments where I really did not know what would be the fate of these characters, all the way to the very end which takes a very impressive and dark turn. 

So its with extreme happiness that I am able to be so happy about "The Dark Knight" because of my reluctance with Nolan's first film. It is epic in the highest sense of the word, so vast in scope, character, and drama. Nolan seemed to know what he did wrong and fixes everything to the utmost amount of perfection. And the ending, which does set us up for a third film and I hope that we are treated to it if he can possible pick up from the brilliant (and downbeat) final five minutes that we are treated to here. I got chills as I watched each of these main character walk out of the film. "The Dark Knight" is the best film made about a super-hero that I've seen, which uses the crime drama genre to elevate the material away from any formula or paint by numbers plot revelations. This is a great step up for Nolan, and its one of the best movies I've seen this year. 

Final Rating-

**** of ****

Portions of this review can be found at this address.

This review can also be found here.

The Stone Angel

The titular angel in Kari Skogland's "The Stone Angel" refers to two things: one is an actual stone angel used atop the family plot of the Currie family, and the second is Hagar Currie herself, one of the strongest female protagonists in quite some time-played with fierce brilliance by both Ellen Burstyn in her golden years, and newcomer Christine Horne in her early ones. An occasionally over-heavy, yet well acted, drama, "The Stone Angel" premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last September-and while at the festival I heard absolutely nothing negative or positive about it, which was surprising considering how fast word travels there. I had honestly forgotten that it even existed until the trailer revealed that it was a part of the festival's selection. I give credit to its release to Ellen Page, whose "Juno" success suddenly caused every one of her already existing pre-"Juno" indie films to be released, however awful (such as "The Tracey Fragments.") It's probably irony that Page isn't in this film very much, appearing in a few scenes towards the end, despite getting second billing in the trailer and quite a bit of space on the films poster.

Starting in the present, we meet Hagar Currie on her way to tour an assisted living facility with her son Marvin (Dylan Baker) and his wife Doris. From her very first line ("I have to go to the bathroom!") one can tell the fierce independence that she has, just in Burstyn's delivery. It's revealed in these early scenes that she is somewhat unstable, suffers fainting spells, and is often forgetful, but she resists going to the home. Through flashbacks a la last year's "Evening" (a film that I can easily compare this one too), we get a sense of who she was and is, showing us her separation from her father when she decides to marry Bram Shipley (Cole Hauser). Her father would rather her continue the family business of running a store. We see her relationships with her two sons-Marvin and John-and as she gets on in the years we see her make many mistakes, not even getting it fully right when she is close to death, making her more human than any movie character you'll see all year.

Burstyn is extremely good in this film, and this is her most mature role in a while (fresh off of "The Wicker Man" from two years ago). But the real soul of the film comes from young Christine Horne, who plays the young Hagar, does not only resemble and act like Burstyn would, but also acts with such experience that its hard to believe this was her first major role. A supporting role by character actor Dylan Baker is also very welcome-Baker is one those actors who appears in and out of many movies and whose name never sticks, but in one week he showed much range for me, making me laugh hard in 'Diminished Capacity" and almost breaking my heart here. And Ellen Page, however brief her performance, is good in the last performance from her pre-"Juno" burst of fame. Playing at interesting parellel to the Hagar character, Page's Arlene is a chance for Hagar to stop someone else from making the same mistakes that she did. Page does a good job at resisting Hagar's advice, just as Hagar did when everyone tried to advise her. Comparing this more human performance to "Juno," or even the film she made after that "Smart People," I personally think that "Juno" might have been the worst thing for her in terms of future typecast. Similar to Jon Heder never breaking the "Napolean Dynamite" image.

It really ends up being the acting that makes "The Stone Angel" easy to recommend. At times the screenplay does get a bit convoluted in terms of drama-eventually so much stuff happens to these characters that it got tedious and even a bit unbelievable, but thankfully the performances played it well enough where it did not become overbearing. And the only example I can possibly think of, a moment of real true beauty here, comes towards the end of the film. Hagar (in this case played by Burstyn) goes to see Bram after many many years of separation. We see what he has become-a sad and lonely drunk who needs whiskey instead of medicine-and the two of them share a look. A simple glance, that is acted so well where we can see their histories and their love and her ability to never give up on him, that almost brought a tear in my eye. Sadly the whole film couldn't deliver that kind of simple beauty, but its the moments like those, played so effortlessly by masters young and old, that made "The Stone Angel" worthwhile.

Final Rating:
*** of ****

This review can also be found here.

Kabluey

Scott Prendergast's "Kabluey" is one of those little movies that warm the heart when they get a theatrical release, and when that theatrical release actually gets some revenue, however moderate. It's also the first bone budget indie film I've seen in a while that thankfully doesn't involve some kind of coming of age road trip-which is somewhat ironic as the center piece of the film involves a road. "Kabluey" is a short, sweet, and ultimately quite hilarious little movie, which is smart enough to avoid a political message that would weigh haved weighed it down even though the device that sets in motion the entire plot. 

Lisa Kudrow stars as Leslie Miniver (perhaps a sly reference to the war torn family in "Mrs. Miniver," but that could be reading into it more than it should be), whose husband Noah (never seen except in pictures where he constantly has this snarl on his face) has been sent to Iraq for his tour of duty. Left at home with her two screaming and misbehaved children Cameron and Lincoln, Leslie is in desperate need to help. Her mother in law than comes up with the idea of sending her son Salman (played by director/writer Prendergast) to babysit for a while. Salman is down on his luck in every way possible, to the point where he tries to sell his car for two hundred dollars just to try and get a few meals. He does come willingly, and after a few days of being tortured, is given a job at Leslie's company BluNexon. Hurt in a stock market crash, the company is in a large building with a lot of office space, and Salman's job is to stand on the side of a highway road passing out fliers to rent the office space. The only catch is that he has to wear a large blue suit-the emblem of the company that isn't really much of anything-just a large blue blob. 

"Kabluey" is very thin on plot, which ends up being a positive more than a negative., despite getting minorly tedious towards the end. It's less of a plot than just a bunch of short sketches, tied together by a loose story. The furtherest it goes is giving Leslie an affair with her boss, which Salman tries to stop quickly to defend his brother. But Prendergast does have a gift for offbeat physical comedy. Researching him after seeing the film, I only recognized one title. A four minute short film that he did a few years ago called "Anna Is Being Stalked," which I remember seeing on the IFC Channel during a shorts presentation. That short you can find online through google, and I'm pleased that he was successful with his first feature. The blue suit, which could have been only used for comedy because of the way it looks, is made much funnier by what he does inside of the suit-which include having to stick his hand out of the rear to get food and drink inside as the suit doesn't have a place for his hands. 

The material here is sometimes overly quirky, a problem that I have with several independent movies, and I'm sure some of the material must have looked odd on the page. But its the performers that really elevate the material quite a bit, giving it the humanity and the realism that this sometimes extreme quirk really needs. I was mainly impressed with Lisa Kudrow, and this is her best post-"Friends" work since "Happy Endings," (although she hasn't really been given many parts, unless you want to include "Marci X.") There is also fun supporting work by character actress Conchata Ferrell and Teri Garr. The latter does her second performance in under a month (the other being "Expired) and in both cases she is given a character that deserves more time because of how well Garr plays it. Here, Garr plays a woman who screams in anger and terror every time she sees Salman in the suit because she lost her life savings when the company crashed. Not much is really done with her character, and the screenplay wraps her character up after an encounter in a grocery store. The flawed screenplay does this several times-introducing some very good ideas and than dropping them in favor of a very brisk 80 minute running time. In one segment, Salman gets a job in the suit at a kid's birthday party, and eavesdrops on the other guest who just ignore his presence not deeming him a threat. And the viewer only gets a single joke out of that which doesn't even end up being as funny as it should have been.

Despite its flaws, "Kabluey" ends up being a very effective little comedy, which is blessed with several memorable performances. Even side characters are given enough to care about, and they deliver some truly hilarious moments. I wish some of the material could have been fleshed out a bit more, but for a feature debut Scott Presdergast really does offer up hope for a follow up. 

*** of ****

Finding Amanda

"Finding Amanda" is a dark comedy about gambling, drinking, strippers, hookers-you name it. Really bottom of the barrel stuff in terms of dark humor. And yet there wasn't a single moment throughout its rather smart screenplay-filled with some four letter words and few sexually explicit conversations-where I felt dirty watching it, or felt like it was dirty for the sake of being dirty, or it was trying to cross a line to be edgy. Everything really seemed in place and earned in a way, enough for the third act to be fittingly poignant and even somewhat sweet. Matthew Broderick is one of those actors-much like John Cusack-who the audience just has a tendency to want to root for him and want him to win. Take Cusack in "The Ice Harvest," a film where he lies and cheats and steals, and yet in the end he still looks like a good guy. The same goes for Broderick's Taylor Peters, a TV writer who is finally getting his recognition back on a somewhat low rated sitcom starring Ed Begley Jr. Taylor had a few rough years where he was addicted to drugs and booze, but is starting to get on his feet with the help of his wife Lorraine (played by Maurs Tierny.) However Taylor can't seem to stop gambling, and will easily throw a few thousand dollars at the track.

When his wife is ready to leave him because the gambling is getting out of hand, Taylor decides to try and show her that he can control it. And the perfect opportunity arrives when he learns that his twenty year old niece Amanda (played by Brittany Snow) is working as a hooker in Las Vegas. He vows to go to Vegas, find Amanda, bring her to a rehab center in Malibu, and not gamble a single cent while being there-a rule that he breaks almost the second he makes it to Vegas.

Broderick really does give a silently terrific performance here, really making us interested in this character from the first second he appears on screen. He turns this somewhat seedy and sick man into someone to care about, and I was absorbed in all of the aspects of his character-from all of the lies he tells all the way up to the somewhat poignant truths that he delivers in the films final scenes. Brittany Snow also does a good job as Amanda-a young girl filled with hope and love and really living a life that she doesn't deserve, and yet she and her uncle share so many of the same painful life choices, and both of them play this relationship aspect of the film so perfectly. Both also deliver some of the real crisp dialogue-written by director Peter Tolan-well, offering some real laugh out loud moments. Many of which also come from a casino worker played by Steve Coogan, one of those guys that tries to be everyones best friend when he really doesn't give a damn.

And than the ending, which really doesn't provide full closure for either Taylor or Amanda, really is quite fitting and effective. I don't want to ruin anything, but it really does provide a fitting conclusion to the relationship aspect of the film, which really ends up being the most important-how Taylor and Amanda end up helping each other find happiness and contentment-an irony considering how they both have made so many bad choices in their lives. This is a point driven home by a short monologue Broderick delivers towards the end.

Sadly "Finding Amanda" did not find any kind of real audience when it was released last week, and I saw it to late in its one week in theatres to really try and recommend it as much as possible. But that is why they invented DVD, and this one is coming out in the middle of September. It really is a well scripted and well acted dark comedy, delivering some moments of edgy humor, but never to a degree where it gets excessive or feels un-needed. In this world of somewhat seedy activities, the language really does fit. It's a good film, and one of the more refreshing offerings of the year so far.

Final Rating:

*** of ****