Over Thanksgiving, "This is Spinal Tap" was on cable. It is so understated and makes you pay such attention that you realize how rare comedies like that are. Even over the top jokes such as the name Sir Dennis Eton-Hogg are so plain and inhabited so fleeting, so naturally by Patrick Macnee, that you breeze right past them, then recognize them and smile eagerly on a second viewing. Two days later, "Napoleon Dynamite" was on another channel. It came out twenty years after "Spinal Tap," is understated balanced with broad humor, that it became a cult hit, too. Both are longstanding, are favorites of people I know, who can quote many lines from each film. Is comedy, that truly aims to be a comedy with grace notes of humanity, THAT rare? Yes, you betcha.
In a way this week was huge, and I ain't talking about the obvious: the 50th anniversary of the JFK Assassination or the grand opening of "The Hunger Games" second installment. This week was big for the little ones, as "12 Years a Slave" stayed reasonably strong at the box office, approaching a $30 million take, "Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa" approaches $100 million, and Gravity opens with $35 million in China on the IMAX. The Wrap reported that while it's the biggest opening ever in that country, it's the third largest market for that film, behind the U.S. and France. The Chinese characters probably helped, and so did the minimalism and straight-forwardness of the story. It's also all about communication. So for everyone who isn't racing to see "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire," there are many others to be seen. And it takes only one theater to show the strong-reviewed "Philomena." And another JFK movie is afoot, "Legacy of Secrecy" with DiCaprio and De Niro attached. It really is the story that won't go away, twenty years after Oliver Stone destroyed the single-bullet theory.
Netflix's announcement to develop a four series epic plus a mini-series event with Disney's Marvel could truly rock the distribution world. I was reminded of David Puttnam's book, "Movies and Money," where at some point he discussed distribution determining production instead of the other way around. This deal has built-in revenue all over it, since Netflix has a built-in, growing, loyal audience, and we trust production is cheaper. The mere listing on Netflix, which surpassed HBO subscriptions two weeks ago, a friend told me, has to have studios wondering what's next for distribution, or if this will simply add an avenue. My guess is the latter, that people still won't stop going to the theater.
Constantly reminded of how quickly movies come and go with the do-or-die box office climate, intact now for, say, 15 years, accelerated by the Web, faster pace of society, and so on. "Ender's Game," beloved by sci-fi fans since publication, will probably be dwarfed by the "Thor" sequel. Then it comes back to strong storytelling, where "Gravity" has shown legs worldwide, and "12 Years a Slave" with a niche population. The story also ensures longevity, or maybe it's Orson Scott Card's outspokenness against same-sex marriage. Either way, it's probably not the fault of Gavin Hood, the director, who's done great work in the past. Or, maybe, with storytelling, it is this time around.
Overwhelmed with reading, I'm starting to look for reasons to put a book down and move on. Lee Jessup's "Getting It Write" is one of the best screenwriting books of the year. It has everything, from story to pitch to, and this is probably the most crucial, navigation through a tough industry. Publication is a ways off, and it's worth the wait. Preview it! You'll like it.
The fact that "Bad Grandpa" knocked "Gravity" out of the top spot misses a bigger picture: two straight-ahead movies that don't fool or insult the audiences tell you something. Years ago I heard people were tired of being lied to. Or, in the film business, they just want a movie to declare itself, touch on buried meanings, but overall stick to the story. It's all about story. Which is why "The Counselor," sure to be nominated for many razzies, has almost none. Actually, elements are there, execution is there, coherence, logic, motive, and real characters are not.
The third straight triumph of "Gravity" at the box office surprises a little. The fact that it outperformed the competition by almost fifty percent is pretty astounding. That means good word-of-mouth. Maybe people want pure, extremely well-made escapism that doesn't offend anyone a-tall, and at just over an hour and-a-half doesn't waste your time. The less-than-stellar opening of "Carrie" by one of the best female directors working today (okay, one of the few too) is tough to take. De Palma, director of the 1976 original, was very supportive of the remake, and his film tapped into teen angst, parent-teen tensions, and big high school events gone wrong. Many can empathize. Maybe that is just what we want: empathy and real people, or pure escapism. I'm sure there's an algorithm out there that boils down to those two categories at times. Still, the new "Carrie" debuted at $17 million, a hair shy of "Captain Philips," so the latter is holding strong, probably because it combines the two categories mentioned above.
This is fairly worthy of discussion, the troubling reactions among three major religious groups after seeing "Noah," due next March. Religious films can be big at the box office ("The Passion of the Christ") or flat-out personal ("The Last Temptation of Christ") and it always seems hard, from the filmmakers' standpoint to, well, take a stand. Martin Scorsese certainly did with "Temptation" and boy did he receive backlash. Mel Gibson scored huge at the box office and reportedly among Christian audiences with "Passion," and a few critics said it was the most violent movie they've ever seen, and there were many reports of parents taking young kids to see it. His follow-up movie with religious themes, "Apocalypto," faired worse, proving once again there is no formula when it comes to subject matter. Which brings us back to Darren Aronofsky, whose "Black Swan" about dueling ballet dancers cleared $300 million worldwide and won an Oscar for its lead. People want strong stories. "Noah" probably has to go deeper, or resonate with the world today in some form. Heck, throw in a little wit and see what happens, especially with Crowe involved.
This my official launch date, and love the saying "less is more." See "Gravity," or the trailer for "The Wolf of Wall Street."
I swear the best directors working today do a few things: take their time (between and during projects), use all facets of the cinema (editing, photography, sound etc.) and make their films memorable. It's the last part that remains a mystery and deserves a book. I'll remember "Gravity" for a long time, and see it up for if not winning several Oscars. Yes, it occurred to me that it falls into the category of "offending anyone and therefore it got made." It does, however, showcase the work of Alfonso Cuaron and his crew. It also inspires, doesn't pander, and uses everything Cuaron has shown us he can do before. It's his first film in seven years, and is drubbing the box office competition as "Don Jon," "Rush," and others sink. Art and politics often truly can't keep their hands off one another, yet Cuaron seems more interested in human life pushed and pulled, implies that we're all in this together, has seemingly ordinary people doing amazing things on the screen, and loves stories of aloneness and connection with the world. He has to be one to watch, or at least keep a tab on. We'll see him on the red carpet at Oscar time.
It's always curious to reflect what came and went in the theater. I'm thinking of "The Family," Luc Besson's much-anticipated film and why it didn't connect more with audiences. We've seen successfully-mixed genres before, and fairly often, especially by him. What we need is consistency, which ties back to expectations, not cookie-cutter mass-market-moviemaking. If expectations are not even met but treated respectfully, then you'll win. I still think back to the book "Movies and Money" by David Puttnam who won the Oscar for Chariots of Fire." He wrote about how movies have to be sold to their audiences, and many who work in the industry have advertising backgrounds. Over here, I think, people eat up the marketing campaigns, then vote with their feet. Especially if the film doesn't resonate or fulfill. "The Family" didn't, and it's out of the fall lineup already. Then imagine, and anticipate, "Twelve Years A Slave," "The Counselor," and the just released "Gravity" and "Captain Phillips." We have ideas on what they're about. Now it's time for expectations, and surprises.
I cannot say I'm too surprised at the tepid box office debut of the most promoted independent film in a while, "Don Jon." Based on all the reviews, it's all about Don. Three years ago Is saw the movie "Solitary Man" where Michael Douglas played a man in a mid-life crisis. The film was smart to take a short segment of time, and had a believable relationship with a young college student played by Jesse Eisenberg. The key to that story was that it was all about Ben (Douglas), and every other character, right down to Danny DeVito as a sandwich shop owner, had lives outside of Ben, who rekindled, interacted, with, and was interested in, them. I've heard about the studies showing how narcissistic our society has gotten, bemoaning the self-centered character of recent high school and college grads. In a story, however, this only goes so far. I'd say in life, too. There, soapbox "off."
The opening of "House of Cards" Episode 7 has a person setting up the oval office of the President. It is intercut with another person setting up an Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) meeting being set up. In the first one pens are laid out, lined up so the ends are at the same point. At the A.A. meeting, chairs are arranged in a neat square, probably so everyone is equal and know they are valued. This kind of juxtaposition you don't see often, and it's so refreshing when it does. I even said out loud to myself, "What an opening!" from the comfort of my beanbag. Then the show, like few other filmmaking jaunts out there, leave you to draw your own conclusions. And that's Washington, DC life: these places could be blocks from each other. Heck, that's a lot of places of power.
Flipping channels, I caught the last part of Jeff Daniels accepting his award for "The Newsroom." Man, has he been around. I remember not buying the premise of "The Purple Rose of Cairo" when I saw it at the age of thirteen. But I recall him as a fresh face. A few years later came "Something Wild" with him again front and center and in a crazy movie with the edgier Melanie Griffith and Ray Liotta. That was 1986. In 1990 came "Arachnaphobia" where again his wanting eyes--this guy needs attention and could be in danger at any moment, or any second, he's on screen. He mirrors our insecurity of what-to-say. I'm not sure what he did in the early '90s, only that I saw him in a supporting role, again with that look on his face when he's about to be blown up, in "Speed" (1994). Will this guy persist? Or could he walk away from acting? Last year he was in "Looper" opposite Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. No, apparently not. He's like Willem Dafoe--he just keeps showing up, though in more mannered roles, and I remember first seeing Dafoe in "To Live and Die in L.A." (1985) and in "Platoon" the following year. Some actors just have it, though Daniels won the starring role in "The Newsroom" and the Web was all a-blur today on what a huge upset it was. In some ways, yes. In others, this guy shows that persistence pays off. He even passed through Madison as a musician last year. Ah, he's branching out, that's where he's headed. Nope, it was just before his prime. And wasn't that him in "Terms of Endearment?"
Sometimes you wonder if directors don't know what to do, or they know what to do with regards to filmmaking, photographing, editing. That's Luc Besson, who inspired continually throughout the '90s, proved he knew how to stage a shootout, and developed unique characters that stood the test of two decades. I had such a visceral reaction to "The Family": the closeups of phones ringing, the slow, zooming, wide shots. All this was fresh and laid groundwork for crisp scenes. Take the opening of "Leon: The Professional," where the Italian restaurant owner (Danny Aiello) gives Leon (Jean Reno) his assignment. Then a well-done shootout, with the aforementioned camerawork, ending with Leon cornering the low-life he was sent for. I saw this 18 years ago when teaching English in South Korea, and it still resonates. Maybe with "The Family" Besson is saying violence invades our lives without consequences. But there has to be consequences somewhere. Otherwise it's just events with no reaction, except mine and my friend's as we left the theater.
Yes, summer is officially over, and a lot of people I know like fall, which doesn't make things so bad. Another reason is "House of Cards." I have usually shunned long, unfolding stories over several hours, getting through the first four hours of "24." Think about that--four hours of character development and events and reactions followed by actions. Or, I was unwilling to set aside time for series such as "The Wire" which my most heavy-reader friends lauded. I approached Netflix's own "House of Cards" with skepticism, and after five episodes, am "happily addicted." It may not be the most realistic--DC is indeed a mean place, but it is the best drama in a series I've ever seen. Talk about half-revealed, half-suppressed emotion and thoughts. Things are always a mystery, and even if we work briefly to suspend our belief, as in seconds, when an online journal called "Slugline" appears on the screen, we are soon with it, and Kate Mara as she gets on with her new job. That's the thing about DC: people who want that lifestyle, pursue and re-invent themselves. Don't we every where else?
I recently read (well, speed-read) a book called "Super Brain" by Deepak Chopra and Rudolph Tanzi. Among the many quotes is a list of how human beings, specifically infants, "absorb every possible input and integrate it." This process is proposed by Daniel Siegel. The acronym for it is SIFT: S (Sensation), I (Image), F (Feeling), T (Thought). Maybe the first two could be switched as we look at a screen and surrender to story. Two films I saw recently, "Blue Jasmine" in the theater and "Detropia" at home, fit this description, and this is what movies do, do they not?
With summer winding down and fall on the horizon, distribution seems muddled. I'm a fan of Brian De Palma since 1987, the summer "The Untouchables" came out. I saw it in the theater, right after buddies and I had seen "Wise Guys," one of the most overlooked comedies of the last thirty years. I thought "The Untouchables," a huge hit that summer, outdoing "Predator," "The Witches of Eastwick," and others, and his camera had me. Between my first job in a vineyard, and later water polo daily doubles, I worked my way through all his works, even "Phantom of the Paradise" and " The Fury," which were little-seen and mostly forgotten films of the go-go '80s. A friend of mine and I find the man fascinating because, according to said friend, "De Palma" has greatness in him and you never know when or how it's going to surface." I agreed one hundred percent, and it says something that I've been waiting for, oh, six months, watching the unofficial fan site and related articles. The over 42,000 people who are fans of his on Facebook seem to be vultures waiting for the theatrical release, and guess what? It may not be a hit. Think of his last two, "The Black Dahlia" and "Redacted." Both weren't out-and-out failures, and the latter was grim, thought-provoking. I guess we couldn't handle it.
This next week in limited release of "Passion," which will also be released video-on-demand. It makes me think of Steven Soderbergh's dual theatrical-DVD release of "Bubble" years ago. It bombed, and he survived and persevered. De Palma has done the same the last two times, and in the '90s, and....he just moves on. One of the many reasons I admire him, and "Passion" features two women, so the misogynous charges will likely fall aside. And it got four stars from Peter Sobczynksi of Roger Ebert's site. That I didn't expect, and cannot wait any longer. Why did "Paranoia" open so badly? With Gary Oldman, arguably one of our finest actors working today, and Harrison Ford, still a box office draw, and Liam Hemsworth hot off two huge successes, could this go wrong? Oh, yes. I got through the first hundred or so pages of Joseph Finder's novel, and his work has a good reputation, and put it down for violating a fundamental rule of storytelling: show, don't tell. Then there's the director, Robert Luketic, who did "Legally Blond" which surprised on many levels, including the financial take and catapulted Reese Witherspoon to superstardom. Luketic followed with some letdowns in "21," which at least had a good story and potential, "The Ugly Truth," and "Killers," with Ashton Kutcher. These films barely had any wit, and what it had appeared self-absorbed, off in their own little worlds.
The writers, James Dean Hall, has one other credit to his name, some movie called "Spread," an Ashton Kutcher sex comedy. Kutcher, by the way, also faired poorly with "Jobs" this weekend. The other writer on "Paranoia," Barry Levy, wrote "Vantage Point. a decent though largely forgettable thriller. One starts to see a theme here. David Denby of the The New Yorker said a few years back that Hollywood seems to be making what it thinks it can sell versus what people want to see. Or, "Paranoia" simply placed packaging ahead of product. Or, they need to return to fundamentals. Then there's who's behind the camera, who develops, conceives, writes, and directs. Just got done reading "Malavita" by Tonino Benacquista in preparation for "The Family" starring Reobert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Tommy Lee Jones. It's a tad depressing that the trailer promotes Luc Besson as "The Producer of 'Taken'" when he awesomely made his mark in the '90s with "Le Femme Nikita," "The Professional," and "The Fifth Element." The book has a nice balance: mafia honor, hierarchy, and the witness protection program with glimpses of family dynamics. Knowing Besson and his childhood strain, he'll keep the parallels of the mafia and playground dynamics with the 14 year-old boy and 18 year-old girl with those of the mafia. It's all about power. Tommy Lee Jones doesn't have a name listed on the IMDB, and from the preview he must be Quintiliani, who is Italian judging by the name. This might be tough for fans of the book. Even tougher is De Niro's character is supposed to be approaching fifty when he's almost seventy in real life. Besson, however, can pull this off: he's balanced comedy and great action before with the aforementioned. This could be a great movie, one of a kind, that will find its audience of grownups who haven't lost their childhoods. That's why this move will matter.
At the dollar theater are two movies that jump out: "After Earth" starring Will and Jaden Smith, directed by M. Night Shyamalan, and "The Internship," starring vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson. One wonders if studio executives thought these movies would be huge. A sci.-fi. movie with a big star and director who's had big box office even if they've been critical failures ("The Village," "The Last Airbender") and a broad comedy with two of our more likable male stars, set in one of the most successful companies. Are these two facets of the cinema things of the past? "R.I.P.D." got ripped by critics and debuted at 6th in the box office, while "The Heat," luring both female and male audiences, opened huge and has sustained its legs, probably on its way to taking in $200 million U.S. What separates the successes from the underperformers?
Of all the previews this week, two stick out: "Planes" (From the world of Cars...) and "Pacific Rim," which looked like Transformers on steroids yet got 4 stars from Matt Zoller Seitz of rogerebert.com. He and I are about the same age, have 2 kids, so I may actually enjoy this, even though I had to grade papers on the last day of middle school to 1.5 Transformers movies and hearing senses have barely recovered, this apparently has bigger ideas. The fights, have to say, looked similar. But ideas can surpass fistfights, right? Right?
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