Recent Reviews Return!

Well, it's been a long time since our last post.
Too long.
But we're back, with more determination to chronicle our favourite things to watch, listen to, and look at than ever! Our proper 2010 reviews will start soon, but for now here's a brief round-up of three films that caught everyone's eye over the Christmas break. Let's start with the best of the three. Let the wild rumpus start!
Where the Wild Things Are

We were all wondering how Spike Jonze was going to turn one of the best-loved (and shortest) children's books of all time into a full-length feature. Well, with great care, skill and affection is the answer. The film starts as Max (Max Records) builds an igloo outside his house. He starts a snowball fight with his older sister's friends to get their attention, but in the ensuing melée the igloo is destroyed. Tearful and humiliated, Max wrecks his sister's room. When his mother (Catherine Keener) returns home, she scolds him but forgives him, and Max's mood improves. The following night, Mom doesn't pay enough attention to him while cooking dinner for her new boyfriend (a blink-and-you'll-miss-him Mark Ruffalo), and Max acts out. When Mom yells, Max runs out of the front door.

After crossing a great sea, Max lands on an island and meets the Wild Things. After convincing them not to eat him by telling them he's a King, he becomes their leader. He promises that he will help them build a fortress that will keep out feelings of sadness. But how long does he have before they realise that he is not in any position to promise total happiness?

There really is a lot to love about Where the Wild Things Are. It's nice to see a Jonze film that embraces beautiful landscapes as opposed to claustrophobic rooms and corridors. As the wild things run riot through the forests, pulling up trees and hurling mud-clods, it's easy to forget that this is the man who brought us the cramped, wet portal into John Malkovich's brain. The wild things themselves are also a triumph. Surprisingly emotive, you never question the reality of these creatures. This is helped enormously by the incredibly strong voice cast. Each of the wild things represents a characterstic, and the actors are chosen accordingly. The cast of voice-actors is superb, with James Gandolfini (short-tempered Carol), Catherine O'Hara (bitter Judith), Lauren Ambrose (kindly KW), Forest Whitaker (good-natured but slow Ira), Chris Cooper (sensible Douglas), and Paul Dano (whiny Alexander). It's also worth noting just how good Max Records is as Max. The character isn't always sympathetic, he's often bratty, making him just like a real little boy. His interaction with Carol is especially superb, as Max recognises aspects of himself, which is both exciting and scary.

There has been some concern over how scary the film is. Well, there is a strong element of danger but nothing too much for children. I don't think it's just me whose fondest memories of the films watched as a child are those films that had a scary aspect to them. These moments are balanced with moments of humour and moments of touching emotion. Jonze and his team have succeeded in making the wild things recognisably human, despite their rough exteriors. It's a triumph, and enough to make you want to howl in appreciation.


Next up,
Sherlock Holmes
Which is, of course, Guy Ritchie trying to prove that he can make a film about something other than London gangsters. The choice of director seems odd, and frankly a lot of other filmmakers could have done a better job of it, but it's entertaining enough. He's helped no end by Robert Downey Jr. in the title role and a surprisingly good Jude Law as Watson. Their dialogue deliberately recalls Withnail and I, and there are few actors who can do verbosely sozzled as well as Downey Jr. The plot is a fun mix of the supernatural and procedural, making good use of the lamp-lit London sets. Come to think of it, lamp-lit late-1800s London sets always look good. Even From Hell got that right. The plot is nothing too complicated: Evil Lord Blackwood (an under-used Mark Strong) is put to death for sacrificing young women for godless, wicked purposes. He promptly rises from the grave, and it's up to Holmes and Watson to stop him from completing his murders and his nefarious plan. Rachel McAdams fares well as tricksy love-interest Irene Adler, and Eddie Marsan lends some needed grit as Inspector Lestrade.

So, what's gone wrong? Well, for one thing, Ritchie's need to place his visual stamp on the film gets irritating fast. When Holmes narrates a forthcoming beating in the opening minutes in slow-motion, before putting it into effect in regular speed, it's a neat gag. When it keeps happening, the novelty has gone. And bare-knuckle boxing? Really?

While Downey Jr.'s accent does tend to wander, it's such a mannered performance that it somehow works. But as the plot moves towards its conclusion, a sense of urgency is lacking. Blackwood is kept offscreen for much of the movie, and Strong is effective enough when he appears that we miss him when he's gone. Try and remember exactly what he was trying to do after you leave the movie, though. Meanwhile, Hans Zimmer's score strives for wacky and kooky but ends up being intrusive.

All that being said, it's entertaining enough. The two leads have a good chemistry, they're given good dialogue to work with, the supporting cast is pretty solid and there's some nice detail in the production design. It's just a shame it was given to Ritchie to direct.



Finally, there's
Avatar
I wonder if I was ever going to like Avatar. I wanted to in the beginning, before all the hype. I will admit I was one of the naysayers when the first trailer arrived, and everything I heard after that reinforced my belief that it would be a disappointment. After seeing it in 3D IMAX, my opinion stayed the same. It's a wasted opportunity

Now, my blog co-author and I agree that, if you are going to see Avatar, you should see it in 3D at the cinema. It certainly looks good. But, having seen My Bloody Valentine and Coraline at the cinema, I'm familiar with 3D movies. I realise that Avatar fans would probably be upset at hearing the film mentioned in the same breath as MBV3D, but, honestly, I enjoyed the slasher movie more.

The plot, such as it is, is the story of Jake Sully, a paraplegic ex-marine who is called to Pandora to replace his identical twin in the Avatar program, which allows humans to walk around the planet's poisonous surface while looking like the native race, called the Na'Vi. Sully's supposed to be giving the military a way in so they can mine the precious Unobtanium (Yeah. I know.), but falls for beautiful Neytiri, and decides to join forces with the natives to keep the evil soldiers from destroying the beautiful home world

So, yes the film looks good. Great, even. Eye-popping colours, visuals, and you feel like you're there, for some of the scenes at least. But my problem with the film was with the plot. If you want to be kept on your toes by a film's narrative, skip this. At no point during the long running time are we in the dark about what's going to happen in the next ten, even fifteen minutes. Is Sully going to fall in love? Is she going to love him back? Is Sigourney Weaver's gruff, smoking scientist going to warm to Sully after some early insults? Are the marines going to stab him in the back?

Sam Worthington is one of those actors who seems to be given the "star of tomorrow" tag, even though this is his second big blockbuster after Terminator Salvation. He was the best thing in that film, and is solid here too, although his American accent frequently slips. Zoe Saldana is great as Neytiri, all primal fierceness, while Weaver does well in one of the better-written parts. There's also a surprisingly good turn from Michelle Rodriguez in the under-written "Bad-ass chick" part of Trudy. Of course, the baddies have all the fun, as Giovanni Ribisi does oily glibness as company man Selfridge and Stuart Lang hams it up as the ruthless Colonel Quartich.

I can't call Avatar a disaster, and I can't call it a masterpiece. It just is, really. Some of the sequences are amazing, visually. But the predictability issue, the bad script, it all just makes it as hollow as a video-game cut-scene. As a film, it seems to exist purely for Cameron to develop this new technology. The last time that happened was with The Abyss, a similarly over-long movie, poorly written about misunderstood creatures and military bad guys in an unfamiliar world....at least that had Ed Harris.


It's now the top grossing film of all time, so I suppose this opinion doesn't really count for much! Maybe we'll be the tip of the backlash spear!

We'll be back soon with more recent reviews, lists, and rantings and ravings!

Ramblings and Retrospectives: Wonder Boys

WONDER BOYS

You know, it’s easy to hate Michael Douglas. When we think of him, we think of the actor who was the poster boy for terrible early-90s erotic thrillers, getting grotty with Sharon Stone and Demi Moore in Basic Instinct and Disclosure respectively. More recently, we‘ve had to put up with sub-par blockbusters like The Sentinel, and his cameos in weak comedies such as You, Me and Dupree, and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. If we’re being generous, we might allow him his performances in Wall Street, or Traffic (despite the fact that the film is not as wonderful as it was hailed on its release). But Michael Douglas can surprise you. Every now and again he’ll pop up in films like Falling Down, The Game, or Wonder Boys, and we remember he’s a talented actor, and not just Catherine Zeta Jones’ sex-addicted husband who got an Oscar for producing Once Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

Despite receiving good reviews, Wonder Boys flopped hard on its release in 2000 (hardly surprising given the awful poster campaigns and the tagline "A weekend from hell became the time of his life") and has never really been reappraised. It’s a shame, because the film is an excellent, sophisticated little dramatic comedy that deserves another look. Based on the novel by the Pulitzer Prize winning author Michael Chabon, it’s the story of a very bad weekend for pot-bellied, pot-smoking author/professor Grady Tripp (Douglas). He has still not finished the long-awaited follow-up to his acclaimed, award-winning first novel, The Arsonist’s Daughter, despite the fact that his page count is now in the tens of thousands. His wife has left him on the morning of the first day of the university’s weekend-long literary event, WordFest. His editor Terry Crabtree (Robert Downey Jr.) has flown into town with a tall transvestite in tow. He’s supposed to be there for WordFest but is really trying to sniff out Grady’s second novel. His mistress Sara (Frances McDormand), who happens to be married to Grady’s head of department, Walter, has just discovered that she is pregnant with his child. In a moment of kindness he decides to take unusual student James Leer (Tobey Maguire) under his dubious wing for the weekend. Before long, Grady is saddled with a stoned student who has not only killed Walter’s dog, but has stolen his priceless coat belonging to Marilyn Monroe. Over the course of the weekend, he must shield James, not only from the police, but from Terry’s advances, and decide what to do about Sara, his weed habit, and his ever-growing behemoth of a novel.

If we’re being honest, not a lot actually happens in Wonder Boys. The first night of the story takes up around half of the entire movie. But we are introduced, carefully, to each of the characters and we are allowed to make our own judgements, and a film’s willingness to take its time is a vastly underrated quality. The script is also hilariously funny in a very low-key, deadpan way, setting up wry zingers that seem tailor-made for old hands like McDormand and Downey Jr. At the same time it doesn’t shy away from the humour found in incredibly bizarre situations, such as an attempt to escape from an angry, short man who believes that Grady has stolen his car, or the difficulties of hiding a dog that’s been shot twice in the chest.

Director Curtis Hanson is best known for his work on LA Confidential and 8-Mile and seems like a curious choice for a film like this at first glance. However, he makes the actually rather bold choice of directing the film in the least obtrusive way possible. A less experienced director might have looked at the script and, panicking at the lack of action, thrown in some unnecessary flashy visuals or fiddled with the story’s structure. Hanson lets the scenes flow smoothly along. The excellent production design and locations speak volumes about the characters. Specifically, Grady’s house is a wonderfully lived-in mess covered with books and papers. Meanwhile, Sara and Walter’s home seems to be striving for a classy, literary elite feel. As James points out, standing outside looking in, “It’s colder in there”. It would also be a grievous error to describe Wonder Boys without mentioning the weather. The film is set in Pittsburgh in winter, and the snow and rain permeate the mood and texture of the film. Grady’s house, overflowing with its various odds and ends, is warm and comforting. The real world outside is cold and unwelcoming, and you feel for Grady as he answers the door clad in a comfy-looking pink dressing gown and a woollen hat. The contrast of warmth and cold is added to by the excellent, nostalgic soundtrack, featuring Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Leonard Cohen, John Lennon, and Van Morrison. There is also the small matter of Dylan's "Things Have Changed", written for the movie. Hanson trusts the setting and the cast to draw you into the story and get you interested in their lives. And what a cast it is.

Douglas has never been better used than here. Many will argue that Falling Down is his finest work, but I would beg to differ. In Wonder Boys he convincingly sheds his image and truly inhabits the role: You forget that you’re watching Michael Douglas. As Grady drags himself out his self-contained world into situations where he may have to be decisive and take responsibility, the actor keeps the character believable and, above all, likeable (a rare thing for a character played by Michael Douglas). A pre-Spider-Man Tobey Maguire works very well in the role of the talented but peculiar James Leer, juggling humour and melancholy. Katie Holmes has a smaller role as Grady’s student/tenant who continually tries to be a shoulder to cry on or, preferably, his new lover. It’s not a terribly demanding part but she’s convincing and surprisingly funny. Robert Downey Jr., before rehab, veers between auto-pilot and excellence, but Robert Downey Jr. on autopilot is still far more entertaining to watch to watch than most actors. He also gets an unexpected slapstick moment that works so well that it reminds us that, yes, he played Charlie Chaplin. There’s a nice cameo from Rip Torn as the pompous, but successful, author Q, and geek favourite Alan Tudyk pops up as a janitor interested in Errol Flynn’s sex life. Most underused, however, is the wonderful Frances McDormand. Despite winning an Oscar for Fargo, she’s still one the most underappreciated actresses in Hollywood. She makes the most of her screen-time, however, fashioning Sara into a strong-willed but kind-hearted woman. She clearly wants to be with Grady, but she isn’t going to make the decision for him. It’s a shame the film has such a dreadful, maudlin little coda, but it certainly doesn’t ruin the ninety minutes you’ve spent with the characters.

Wonder Boys takes great delight in satirising the literary world. From Grady’s class’ brutal evaluation of James Leer’s short story that starts the film (“Jesus, what is it with you Catholics?” moans one girl), to the self-importance of Q (Rip Torn), Wonder Boys shows writers to be narcissistic, vain, and often completely clueless. As Q takes the stage at WordFest, he takes a moment to size up the packed auditorium before intoning, with the gravitas of Orson Welles, “I…am a writer”. He receives rapturous applause. Shortly after, his bubble is popped when James drunkenly bursts out laughing. It is important to note, however, that although the film skewers the industry, and the people, it remains reverential of the work they produce, and it admires the commitment that these people have to the written word. Although we’re encouraged to laugh at Q, we are told that he is rich and successful. James may be a very strange young man but Grady and Terry’s admiration of his manuscript, “The Love Parade”, shows that he is also very talented. And there’s Grady himself, who, after ranting about fiction doesn’t mean anything anymore, is told by a heartbroken James that “‘Arsonists’ Daughter’ meant something. It meant something to me.”. Even Q remains impressed by his talent.

Wonder Boys may not be a perfect film, but it’s witty and intelligent in a way that a lot of more recent urbane indie films have tried hard to achieve but failed (Smart People, anyone?). Quirkiness, an interesting cast, and a good soundtrack mean nothing if you can’t connect with the characters, and where other “offbeat” films fail, Wonder Boys succeeds. It may be slow, but it leaves you with the warm glow attained after spending an evening in great company.

Wonder Boys trailer: http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi2179072281/

Bob Dylan's "Things Have Changed" video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQDeYzUkXOU