Friday, October 29, 2004
Thursday, October 28, 2004
MODERN EXISTENTIAL CINEMA
Well, if that headline didn't scare you off, just wanted to mention that I saw the movie I Heart Huckabees over the weekend. Kind of an odd title for an odd movie. But I really enjoyed it. Huckabees is one of those rare movies that make you think. It's the new film by David O. Russell, (who previously made the movies Spanking the Monkey, Flirting with Disaster and Three Kings) and it's got an all-star cast, including Jason Schwartzman (the star of Rushmore) as Albert Markovski, an environmental activist who is having an existential crisis. He goes to see "existential detectives" (Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin, who are great here) and "hires" them to get at the root of his problem.
Jude Law plays Brad Campbell, a smarmy corporate climber for a Wal-Mart like store chain called Huckabees, who exploits Schwartzman's organization to improve his company's image. Brad becomes Albert's arch-nemesis, and eventually he hires Hoffman and Tomlin as well. While Brad doesn't really seem to take them seriously and just seems to be imitating Albert, Brad's wife Dawn (Naomi Watts, who looks great in a bikini, btw) who is also the spokeslady in the Huckabees commercials, begins to have her own existential crisis when she comes into contact with the "detectives" and decides to stop wearing make-up and begins wearing an Amish bonnet wherever she goes.
Mark Walhberg also turns in a really good performance as Tommy Corn, another crisis ridden guy who asks the detectives for help in figuring out his life. He's also a fireman who constantly rants against the use of petroleum and rides a bike to fires. Walhberg is one of these guys who's career is very uneven. He has turned in good performances before (most notably in Boogie Nights), but has also turned in a lot of duds (the biggest probably being Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes remake). In Huckabees, he shows that he has real screen presence and can really do a great job with the right role.
All of these quirky characters take part in a strange, philosophical stew that is one of the most unique movie-going experiences you'll have this year. The big struggle is between Hoffman & Tomlin, who contend that everything is connected and the universe is one big sheet where nothing happens randomly, and their French counterpart (Isabelle Huppert of the Piano Teacher) as a former student of theirs who now heads a school of thought that the universe is random and cruel, and who steals away Walhberg and Schwartzman as clients, introducing them to the "dark side." By the end, we see the usefulness of both Hoffman & Tomlin's and Huppert's points of view.
This movie walks a real tightrope, as it always risks falling into a precious, pretentious film version of your college Philosophy 101 class. But it never really falters. Somehow director Russell turns in a clever, funny and thought-provoking film that gives everyone in the cast a chance to shine. You've never quite seen something before like Huckabees, and that's why it's one of the best movies you'll see this year.
Other than that, lots of horror movies coming out in time for Halloween. Haven't seen The Grudge with Sarah Michelle Gellar yet, but I plan to catch it soon. Amazing that it was number one at the box office last week, making $40 million. And this Friday, the new horror flick SAW comes out, and it looks really good. So I plan to catch at least a couple of movies over the weekend.
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
LAST COMIC STANDING
This is a note to anyone out there who's been watching Season 3 of LAST COMIC STANDING, like me. Season Three of the show just came to a close. It featured the comics of Season 1 facing off against the ones from Season 2 for something like an ultimate showdown. I was watching the show every week, even voting on occasion, and I'd invested enough time in the show where I really wanted to find out who won.
The final four turned out to be Rich Vos and Dave Mordal (from Season 1) and Alonzo Bodin and John Heffernon (from Season 2, in fact, Heffernon won in Season 2). All four of them put on a great show. Personally, I really thought that, of the four, Dave Mordal did the best set. So the four performed, people voted, and then we waited for the final show to find out the results...........and we waited.........and we're still waiting.
The thing is, NBC never showed the finale of LAST COMIC STANDING. They blamed it on poor ratings, but why show every single episode leading up to the end and then NOT SHOW THE FINAL FUCKING EPISODE? This is a total slap in the face to the performers and to the audience who watched every week. This is exactly the kind of thing that makes it clear that NBC sucks. I made sure to send them an email giving them a piece of my mind about this topic. If you'd like to complain to them as well, the email address to write to is nbcshows@nbc.com
If you're as pissed off as I am about this, make your voice heard!
In the meantime, I heard a rumor that the show finale will be shown on Comedy Central instead of NBC. I also noticed that LAST COMIC was listed as being on Comedy Central this coming Saturday at 8pm. I have no idea if it's a rerun or not, or if it's the last episode. I guess I'll find out soon.
More on this as it develops.
TV ROUND-UP
Well, we're far enough into the new TV season so that some shows are standing out from the pack. Here are the ones of interest that I've noticed:
1) Lost - ABC, Wednesdays at 8pm - I already discussed this one (below). This show just keeps getting better and better. At this point, it appears as if each episode will be focusing on a different character and revealing their past. Two weeks ago we got some background information on the hot fugitive Kate (Evangline Lilly). And last week's episode about Terry O'Quinn's character, Colonel Locke, was even better, and was written by David Fury, who is also a Co-Executive Producer of the Show, aside from having been one of the best writers to work on Buffy and Angel. If J.J. Abrams has people of this caliber involved in writing the show, then we're going to be in for some fun surprises in the weeks ahead.
2) Desperate Housewives - ABC, Sundays at 9pm - another ABC show that's been getting a lot of buzz, this is currently their top rated new show. While I like it, I don't think it's anywhere as cool as Lost. While it claims to emulate prime-time soaps of the past, like Dynasty and Dallas, it's actually more self-aware than those shows, and more tongue-in-cheek. It also reminds me a little bit of a watered-down Twin Peaks, because, while it doesn't have David Lynch's dark edge, it does have its share of secrets buried beneath the heart of suburbia. It revolves around the neighborhood of Wisteria Lane and the four central characters are women, Terry Hatcher (of Lois & Clark) plays Susan Mayer, a single mother who is trying to restart her love life, hopefully with the new and mysterious man who just moved into the neighborhood. Marcia Cross (previously the insane Kimberly on Melrose Place) plays Bree Van De Kamp,a very anal housewife, verging on Stepford terrritory, who is currently in marriage therapy with her unhappy husband. Felicty Huffman is Lynette Scavo, a mother of triplets who always seems to be at the end of her rope and Gabrielle Solis (Eva Longoria, the hottest actress on the show) the young, neglected wife of an over-achieving businessman, who's fucking her gardner. Also on the prowl is Nicole Sheridan (Knot's Landing) as Edie Britt, who seems to show up whenever a new man appears on the scene (to Susan Mayer's dismay). The show is narrated by the character Mary Alice Young, another housewife and friend of the main four characters, who recently killed herself. There are lots of skeletons in Mary Alice's closet, from what we can tell so far based on her widowed husband's strange behavior. And everyone seems to have their share of secrets that will be explored. The show has been interesting so far, and its sly sense of humor is refreshing. I'll keep watching for now.
3) Veronica Mars - UPN, Tuesdays at 9pm - a show that wants to be the new Buffy, Veronica Mars (Kristen Bell) is a high school student who also works as a private detective in her spare time, working for her father's agency. Veronica knows the ins and outs of surveillance and it's come in handy in the storylines so far. Closer to home, her best friend's murder hasn't been solved (her father was Chief of Police at the time and was fired when he accused the victim's rich father of the crime and couldn't make it stick) and her own mother has run away. Veronica is smart, pretty, and a very confident character, and the show is pretty good. The supporting cast is okay, but there's no way this show is in the same league as Buffy. Ratings seem to be low, so there's a chance this show won't last the whole season, but since it's on a small network like UPN, maybe they'll give it a chance to attract an audience. Either way, it's one of the better offerings this season.
4) The Westerner - The Western Channel, Saturdays at 5:30pm and Sundays at 11:30am - This one's a little different. This is one my favorite "new" shows on TV - but it's not new at all. In fact, nobody has seen it since the 1950's. This obscure little gem is called The Westerner, and it was created and directed by Sam Peckinpah (The Wild Bunch) It revolves around wandering cowboy Dave Blassingame (Brian Keith), who travels with his horse and his labrador Brown, and the various interesting characters he meets along his journeys. The show has Peckinpah's stamp all over it, shifting with ease between dark episodes and more light-hearted ones. Peckinpah stalwarts like Warren Oates and Slim Pickens even pop up sometimes. I always had a mixed reaction to Brian Keith (probably most famous for being Uncle Bill on Family Affair) but he's really good here. Blassingame is an interesting, morally ambiguous character. In one episode, he finds stolen gold and almost goes to Mexico with it, before a last minute change of mind makes him give it up to a lawman friend who had faith in him. In another episode, Blassingame gets involved with a rancher's dissatisfied wife. It's kind of refreshing that he isn't a tower of goodness and often gives in to temptation, even if he does usually redeem himself in the end. As a big fan of Peckinpah's movies, I'm really enjoying this show, a time capsule from early in the career of an American master.
All four of these shows is worth checking out, especially LOST, which is excellent.
Tuesday, October 19, 2004
TEAM AMERICA - PUPPETS KICKING ASS!
Well, I went to see TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE this weekend, and I really didn't know what to expect. I think Trey Parker and Matt Stone are two brilliant comic minds, having created SOUTH PARK, and especially the SOUTH PARK MOVIE. The South Park movie is probably the most perfect thing they've ever done. Hell, I even liked their live-action work like ORGAZMO (the crazy movie they made about an innocent Mormon guy - played by Parker - who becomes a porn star superhero) and even BASEketball isn't totally without a few laughs - sure it sucks and is probably the worst thing they've done, mainly because they didn't write/direct the fucking thing - but they're both so damn likeable that even that movie isn't totally worthless.
Which brings us to TEAM AMERICA. I really had no idea what to make of the trailer. Sure the idea of making a movie completely with puppets seemed really goofy, but was it going to work for an hour and a half? Well, the answer is - "fuck yeah!" - to quote the movie's theme song.
Sure the movie was inspired by the old Gerry Anderson TV show THUNDERBIRDS. I remember watching it as a kid and thinking the marionette puppets were pretty funny to look at - but the storylines were often pretty dull. No such problem here. Parker and Stone originally meant to use the movie to parody big budget action movies a'la PEARL HARBOR and ARMAGEDDON, and that's definitely in the mix. Somehow, politics got in there too. But the political points this time around are very fuzzy (something that's evident on SOUTH PARK on occasion as well). In trying to ridicule both sides, the movie seems to have no real point of view. It starts out seeming to be a parody of how America has become the policeman of the world - and has some funny scenes where members of Team America try to apprehend terrorists, laying waste to Paris in the process - but the focus soon switches over to bashing outspoken liberal Hollywood types like Alec Baldwin, Tim Robbins, Sean Penn and Janeane Garafolo, who are also villains here. Seeing these celebrity blowhards parodied is pretty funny, actually. Sean Penn got pissed off enough to write the guys a letter protesting the way they used him in the movie. Get a fucking sense of humor, Sean!
But the political humor and action movie antics are just one part of why TEAM AMERICA is funny. The other part is that - well - puppets having sex (in multiple positions), puppet gore (lots of heads blowing apart and blood spraying everywhere), puppet puking, and puppets saying "fuck" every other word is just funny as all hell! When I saw it, it was with a really cool audience who knew what they were in for, and the laughter was loud and often. Sure the movie has it's flaws, but if you dig SOUTH PARK and you think that puppets doing offensive shit is funny, then you are really going to enjoy this movie. I know I did.
Monday, October 04, 2004
OL' MOZZ IS BACK!
Okay, so I'm this huge Morrissey fan, and I just got back from seeing Morrissey in concert tonight. It was one of the best shows I've seen in years. He's been out of the spotlight for a long time now and it was good to see him back in action. His band was amazing. Unlike past concerts he actually did three (!) Smiths songs, an amazing version of HOW SOON IS NOW, as well as BIG MOUTH STRIKES AGAIN, and for the encore, probably my favorite Smiths' song of all, THERE'S A LIGHT THAT NEVER GOES OUT. Other highlights included a terrific version of what might be Morrissey's best solo song ever, EVERYDAY IS LIKE SUNDAY. He did some great solo classics (NOVEMBER SPAWNED A MONSTER was another gem), as well as a nice chunk from his new album YOU ARE THE QUARRY.
An amazing show. If you dig ol' Mozz, then check him out when he comes to your town. You won't be disappointed.
"Come Armageddon, Come Armageddon, Come."
Sunday, October 03, 2004
LOST
Well, the best new show of the new season is easily on at 8pm on Wednesday nights. It's called LOST, and even though only two episodes have aired so far, I am really digging it and can't wait til the next one.
It began with a plane crash. 48 people find themselves on an island. They have no idea where they are. A strange unseen creature is stalking them. They don't know who they can trust among the survivors, but they have banded together out of fear.
LOST is the creation of J.J. Abrams who previously gave us FELICITY and, more importantly,ALIAS. He's proven himself to be one of the more interesting producer/director/writers in television, picking up the slack since people like Chris Carter fell off the face of the earth (what has Carter been up to since X-Files went off the air, anyway?).
The main characters on LOST are compelling - including Jack (Matthew Fox), a doctor who has become the leader of the group and Kate (Evangeline Lilly), who we just learned in episode 2 was a criminal formerly in chains on the plane. There are several other interesting characters, but we still don't know enough about any of them yet. Their stories are unfolding slowly, which makes perfect sense to keep you watching each week. There's no way we could focus on 48 characters, so it sticks mainly to about a dozen or so. And already it's clear that not everyone is what they appear to be. No doubt I'll be talking about this show again as time goes on. For now, I don't want to give too much away in case you're just finding out about it. But I do think this is a show worth searching for.
Saturday, October 02, 2004
HELL, YEAH!
Saw the new Catherine Breillat movie ANATOMY OF HELL. She's always a controversial director, having previously made the sexually explicit ROMANCE (which I saw) and the equally controversial FAT GIRL (which I haven't). The new one might be her most button-pushing film yet. So obviously I had to go see it opening night. LOL.
What we have here are the typical strengths and weaknesses of the new French cinema. A desire to push envelopes and delve into stuff meant to be disturbing, while being a pretentious twit in the process. Sometimes a French filmmaker is able to get around the twit part - see Gaspar Noe's IRREVERSIBLE, there's not a pretentious bone in that movie or the equally unrelenting BAISE-MOI by Coralie Virginie Despentes - but those are the exceptions to the rule.
ANATOMY OF HELL is about a woman who for some reason starts off in a gay bar. Everyone's dancing, everyone is male, and she feels left out. She goes upstairs to the bathroom and proceeds to slit her wrist. A guy finds her and brings her somewhere to get patched up. She makes him a deal. She will pay him to watch her "reveal" herself. He decides, what the fuck, and goes along with the offer.
What the rest of the movie is all about is a woman "revealing" herself before a gay man. She masturbates in front of him. Shows him her vulva. Reveals the "secrets" of the tampon. And even shares a glass of menstrual blood tea with him. All envelope-pushing, ballsy stuff (I'm totally aware of the irony here), and this is why I dig Catherine Breillat. She's a fearless filmmaker who does not shy away from explicit material, close-ups on genitals, or subject matter that makes some people uncomfortable. Hell, thats' what real filmmaking is all about.
But there are flaws. First off, the title. Although it's probably meant to be ironic, ANATOMY OF HELL is a very pretentious title. Is a woman's vagina the equivalent of hell? I guess some people might think so. I just found the concept incredibly naive. Also, the two leads in the film Amira Casar (the woman) and Rocco Siffredi (the man) are very good actors and charismatic onscreen. But their dialogue at times is just laughable. Everything they say sounds like they are espousing on the secrets of the universe. And in truth it's much more earthly stuff.
But the biggest problem I have with the movie is its naiveite. Like the much ballyhooed fantasy most men have about seducing a lesbian and changing her orientation, one of this movie's main points seems to be that the woman has set out to seduce a gay man - and she succeeds. While he is paid to watch, he soon (very soon) afterwards takes the next step and is first fucking her in the ass, and then trying out her pussy. He practically leaps at the chance. I'm not gay, but I find this a little implausible. And Breillat seems to be rushing the whole thing - which is odd because at 74 minutes, this movie could stand to be a little longer. As soon as you really get into it, it ends.
Breillat is a feminist filmmaker and obviously has her own agenda. That's fine. For what it was, unintentional laughs and all, I dug her movie. And I dug the fact that other people in the audience were clearly uncomfortable with some of the images. You go, girl! LOL
Also saw THE FORGOTTEN this week. It's the next movie for the Cinama Knife Fight column I write with Michael Arruda, so I won't go into detail about it here, except to say that, as usual, Julianne Moore turns in a great performance. Why the fuck that woman does not have an Oscar yet, and Meryl Streep is some kind of Hollywood icon, fucking eludes me. Moore could act circles around that overrated bitch.
That's all the fun for this week. Until next time, keep repeating to yourself, "It's only a movie. It's only a movie."
