Mollyblog

Yup, I'm Still Reviewing Movies.

Barely Cutting It
By Molly Freedenberg, November 1, 2006
Running With Scissors. Annette Bening, Joseph Fiennes, Evan Rachel Wood, Alec Baldwin, Joseph Cross, Gwyneth Paltrow Star In A Film Written And Directed By Ryan Murphy, And Based on The Book By Augusten Burroughs.

Making a movie out of a memoir that many of my friends call “the best book ever” can’t be easy, as expectations are necessarily going to run high. But adapting a beloved book well does guarantee an immediate audience. Unfortuantely, I don’t think Nip/Tuck producer Ryan Murphy is going to satisfy that audience with Running With Scissors.

Despite some memorable moments and a few remarkable performances, this movie is ultimately forgettable. It relies too much on cinematic devices that other films have used first or used better — its quirky, surreal quality, for example, made me hunger for the better executed and more original The Royal Tenenbaums. And without creating its own visual language, the film left me feeling like this story was already told the way it was supposed to be told — with words on a page.

Still, the movie’s strengths make it worth seeing. Annette Bening steals the show with her complex, sympathetic portrayal of the lead character’s wildly unstable mom, bringing to mind her equally brilliant performance in American Beauty. Evan Rachel Wood is captivating as the Lolita-like Natalie. And though few and far between, the jokes and visual gags that work in the film really work – and are sure to become part of our cultural vocabulary.

Perhaps the biggest disappointment of Running With Scissors, though, is Gwyneth Paltrow as the strange and morose Hope. The film wastes Paltrow’s exceptional talent, making her a mere caricature of other characters she’s played before and played better (the dark, sullen Margot in The Royal Tenenbaums meets depressed, daddy-obsessed Catherine in Proof.)

Aside from these flaws, however, Running With Scissors is still one of the more interesting, substantial films I’ve seen in theaters this year. And its surreal, retro feel (plus the titillating material) will undoubtedly earn it some hardcore fans. But I doubt any of them will be people who read the book first.

My Country: SB Indie Redux

Whose Country?

(published SB Indie 8/23/06)

Laura Poitras, Director Of My Country, My Country, In Conversation.

Sparked by a sense of despair about the war in Iraq and inspired by an article in the New Yorker, Laura Poitras set out on a dangerous, difficult, and ultimately rewarding film project: to express the complexities of the situation in Iraq through the eyes of Iraqis. By herself. Without speaking Arabic.
The result is the engaging My Country, My Country, a documentary that follows Sunni physician and political candidate Dr. Riyadh in the months leading up to Iraq’s first democratic elections. Poitras gives viewers a firsthand look at Iraqis’ ambivalence about the occupation, the election, and even resistance fighters. Thanks to Poitras’s remarkable access to Riyadh’s home and medical clinic and to official military meetings, the film presents a perspective of the Iraqi occupation that we haven’t seen before.

Why did you film this movie alone? Wouldn’t it have been easier, and less dangerous, with a crew? Maybe, but it allows me to be certain places I never would have been if I had a crew. When I walked into military meetings, people didn’t challenge me. I just sat down and pulled out my camera, more like a tourist. It was also easier for me to travel: I could find a space on a helicopter or in a car. I could live with Dr. Riyadh.
It was incredibly dangerous. People threatened me. But I believe what protected me was working with somebody who’s respected in the community, not traveling with bodyguards and guns. It was more protection in terms of the structure of society. I didn’t necessarily feel safer when I was with people who had guns.

What about being a woman in this notoriously male-centric culture? It was actually very helpful. In the culture, there’s a pretty big division between genders. Being a woman allowed me to be with the women in the family and hang out and live there with them, which would have been inappropriate if I were a man. But being a Western woman also allowed me to hang out in very male environments.

But how did you even know what was going on if you didn’t speak the language? I wouldn’t have thought it possible. But there were scenes I was filming that, even though I didn’t speak the language, I knew would be wonderful. As a filmmaker, you just know. Like the night before the election, when they’re sitting around and the lights are out and they’re talking about the situation, it’s a poignant scene — so I film it, and it’s a wonderful surprise when I come back and get the translations.

What should we learn from the film? To understand the situation not just from an American perspective, but from an Iraqi perspective. Iraqis are just trying to sort of rescue their country. The stakes are a lot higher for them — it’s not just an ideological debate. I feel it’s important for us to confront Islamic people as human beings, to understand them and see them as not so different from us. People will disagree about the film as they do about the war, but my hope is that it challenges people no matter where they are on the political spectrum.

Not OutKast Anymore

(published Sb Indie 8/30/06)

Idlewild. André Benjamin, Antwan A. Patton, Terrence Howard, And Macy Gray Star In A Film Written And Directed By Bryan Barber.

If there were ever any doubt that André Benjamin (André 3000) and Antwan A. Patton (Big Boi) of OutKast are major players in a long line of great entertainers, Idlewild will clear it up. The film is a retro-modern portrait of the Prohibition-era South, with Patton as the outgoing, philandering, magnetic singer and son of a bootlegger, and Benjamin as the shy, piano-playing son of an undertaker. It’s about following your dreams, finding your voice, organizing your priorities, and enabling yourself to change. Which seems fitting, since for OutKast, it’s also about stepping up to a new level of artfulness, talent, and ingenuity, and reminding us that true innovation and passion are still possible in contemporary entertainment.

But the movie didn’t have to go so well. In fact, it seemed perfectly poised to do just the opposite. There’s an entertainment industry joke that period films whose lead characters wear hats are doomed to fail — and with this film set in the ’30s and one of its protagonists always sporting a fedora, it’s not hard to connect the dots. Add to that the fact that it stars pop singers, has a loose, clichéd plot, and starts slowly, and Idlewild could have been one huge, campy failure.

But thanks to director Bryan Barber’s vision and OutKast’s undeniable charisma, the film soars, sings, and delights with charming grace. The cinematography is gorgeous, the choreography stellar, and the music, as to be expected, toe-tappingly original. Judicious use of animation just adds to the film’s storybook feel, and extraordinary performances from Benjamin and Patton suggest that this is the film the duo was born to make. It also shows that their creativity is greater than any of us expected, and that this won’t be the last innovation we’ll see from Benjamin and Patton, who prove they are classic entertainers as much as they are pop sensations.

In fact, after seeing this film, it wouldn’t be far off to compare the two — and Benjamin especially — to greats such as Fred Astaire, Gregory Hines, Sammy Davis Jr., and even Prince. Like their predecessors, OutKast is of-our-time while also transcending it. They, like this film, will become enduring classics.

Mardi Gras: Made in China

(published Whole Life Times August 2006)

Produced, directed, edited and filmed by David Redmon
For release dates, visit: Mardigrasmadeinchina.com

Mardi Gras: Made in China is the latest in the recent trend of sincere, even-handed documentaries that are wresting the genre away from Michael Moore. This one’s an especially smart profile juxtaposing the young, exploited women in Fuzhou, China, who make plastic Mardi Gras beads with the privileged New Orleans tourists who bare their breasts to acquire them.

The film’s success is due to one-man-band David Redmon, the Texas native with a PhD in sociology and a lifelong interest in Carnival festivals, whose brain birthed this film. The naturally curious Redmon elicits candid, informative, intimate interviews from impoverished workers, the wealthy factory owner and drunken Mardi Gras revelers, all of whom seem to be responding to the same unbiased affection Redmon used in the editing process.

The result is a quick, engaging snapshot of globalization and its effect on seemingly unconnected cultures. What it isn’t, luckily, is a moralistic lesson on the dangers of capitalism and excess. Instead, by showing footage of China to revelers on Bourbon Street, showing footage of New Orleans to workers in China, and showing the film to everyone he can, Redmon hopes to “open up a visual connection between two people who seemingly have nothing to do with each other.” “It provides a visual bridge,” he said.

Should conditions in China change? Absolutely, said Redmon. But he doesn’t mean to rain on anyone’s Fat Tuesday parade. “The issue goes beyond the individual,” he explained. “It’s an international system of trade.”

Sunshine = Good

(Published in SB Indie August 10, 2006)

Little Miss Sunshine.
Abigail Breslin, Greg Kinnear, Paul Dano, Alan Arkin, Steve Carell, and Toni Collette star in a film written by Michael Arndt, and directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris.

This American road trip comedy (with dramatic tendencies) is one of the year’s best movies, by far. Delightfully dark and dysfunctional, like the family it portrays, this film follows a wacky band of relatives as they drive a rickety, sunshine-yellow VW van to Southern California so the plump, unselfconsciously dorky Olive can compete in a beauty contest.

The real success is the characters themselves. You have Paul Dano’s deadpan Dwayne, the angst-filled teen who’s devoted to Nietzsche and has taken a vow of silence until he gets his license to fly jets. There’s Steve Carell’s Frank, the gay suicidal Proust scholar who makes the perfect friend and foil to Dwayne. And, of course, Abigail Breslin’s Olive, the sincere little girl with a penchant for rainbow-colored sweatbands and a complete unawareness that she is not the beauty pageant type.

Then there’s Alan Arkin as Grandpa, the heroin-snorting, porn-imbibing, foul-mouthed old man who, nonetheless, shows a remarkable tenderness for his granddaughter and, when it counts, for his son. Greg Kinnear plays a perfect Richard, the earnest, naïve, and annoying motivational speaker dad who’s judgmental and clueless, but fragile enough to garner audience sympathy. And finally there’s the always-spectacular Toni Collette as Sheryl, the frazzled mom trying to hold it all together despite her own inadequacies and frustrations.

Done poorly, these characters would be mere caricatures of themselves and the movie would play like an SNL sketch comedy. But thanks to the remarkable camaraderie and love exhibited within the family, it works very well.

Sure, some parts are a bit sappy. And the dead body farce seems a tad stale, if only because I grew up on Weekend at Bernie’s. But all in all, this is a funny movie with heart, culminating in a finale that celebrates the quirky strangeness in all families, in contrast to the grotesque, strange, inappropriate world of the kiddie beauty pageant.

This is the first movie in a long, long time that I can recommend without hesitation — to anyone.

Popcorn Film Festival

(Published in SB Indie August 9, 2006)

Top Five Flicks at the Popcorn Film Festival

One of the best things about college was exposure to random art, especially short indie films. Lucky for Santa Barbarians, we needn’t be in college to see this weird and wonderful art form. That’s because the Contemporary Arts Forum is bringing the Popcorn short film and video festival to town on Saturday, August 12, from 6-8 p.m., in the parking lot of Samy’s Camera at 614 Chapala Street. (Visit sbcaf.org or call 966-5373 for more info.) And thanks to curators Bob Pece and Jon Spiak, your chances of catching wacky and enjoyable films are pretty good. Here are highlights:

1} Springtime for Eva: A collection of home-movie footage of a young, happy German girl on an eternal sunny vacation, made more profound by the fact that the boyfriend accompanying her is Adolf Hitler.

2} Updebum: Worth watching for its title alone, this piece gives a list of actual items that have been retrieved from people’s you-know-whats, complemented by illustrative X-rays.

3} Back Seat Bingo: Charmingly animated senior citizens (based on real people) discuss sex after middle age with candor and personality.

4} La Leyenda del Espantapajaros (The Legend of the Scarecrow): A delightfully dark, Tim Burton-esque fable about a lonely scarecrow who tries to befriend the very birds he was built to terrify.

5} Pilgrim’s Progress: Uses the language of early Atari computers to turn the story of America’s early colonization into a hilariously accurate multiple choice-style video game.

"John Tucker Must Die" Must Die

(published in SB Indie 8/3/06)

This isn’t the worst movie ever made, or even close to it. In fact, it isn’t entirely unpleasant to watch. But that doesn’t mean it’s a good movie. Not by a longshot.

The premise (a player gets played) could be interesting enough if done well, and the result could’ve been either funny (ala Mean Girls), dark (ala The Heathers) or even moving (ala The Imaginary Teen Movie in My Head), if done well. The actors and actresses make good eye candy, and a couple of them can even act (though Desperate Housewives hunk Jesse Metcalfe isn’t one of them). And the dialogue — particularly the flirty scenes between Brittany Snow and Penn Badgley — leads me to believe that the screenwriter can actually write.

But instead of elevating this movie from teen schlock to Ten Things I Hate About You status, the filmmaker has taken the easy route. The plot is superficial and predictable, the characters are one-dimensional, and there is no real message (since the cad manages to get his way no matter what). This film does as much for the embattled teen movie genre as marshmallows do for the diet: it’s yummy fluff that does no harm but also does no good.

You, Me and Dupree

(published SB Indie 7/20/06)

I didn’t have very high expectations. Though I love Kate Hudson in a movie that does her justice, she has a knack for showing up in movies that don’t. Owen Wilson, though always enjoyable to watch, can’t necessarily save a sinking movie on his own. And I haven’t cared about Matt Dillon since Singles.

So it was a surprise to find myself actually interested in this houseguest-overstays-his-welcome romantic comedy. The film was equal parts superficial, funny and sweet, with funny winning out thanks to some laugh-out-loud jokes and Wilson’s innate comedic sense. And though the end was predictable (isn’t that one of the defining features of a film in the rom-com genre?), it wasn’t the one it seemed to be setting itself up for.

The story itself wasn’t much to work with, and the characters as they’re written could have been pretty one-dimensional (and, in the case of Michael Douglas’s role as Hudson’s Dad, it is). But Hudson, Wilson and Dillon managed bring their own charm and sparkle to their parts (even if they’re just playing themselves), injecting this potential box-office bomb with a bit of vitality and freshness.

Overall, though, this film should not be considered any more than what it is: an easy, breezy date movie, an enjoyable but hollow indulgence much like marshmallows or junk food cereal. You could do worse than end up watching this in the theater, but I wouldn’t make a special trip see it. It’s more the kind of film that’s a pleasant surprise when you come across it on a cable channel at 2pm. Which is to say, it exceeds expectations, but only if they’re relatively low to begin with.

Clerks II Review

(published SBIndie 7/27/06)

Still Dealing

Clerks II
Brian O’Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Jason Mewes, and Kevin Smith star in a film written and directed by Smith

A good movie creates its own universe – its own language, inside jokes, and relationships. And a good sequel both stands on its own and adds a new chapter to the first movie’s story. Clerks II, much to my surprise and delight, does both.

The film catches up with Dante and Randal after 10 years at the Quik Stop, when they’ve moved to a fast-food joint only because they accidentally burned down the mini mart. Jay and Silent Bob are back to loitering and selling drugs – after a stint in rehab. Even Ben Affleck makes an appearance as a customer. Lance Dowds (Jason Lee) is the high school jerk/internet millionaire who makes Randal question his choices in life. Although it may sound like a “Where are they now?” tribute for hardcore fans only, Clerks II is actually a completely separate story relying on the great writing, witty dialogue, and unpolished production that made the first such a hit.

Subtle nods to the first film will spark delight and recognition in die-hards, but won’t alienate first-time viewers. Familiar characters stay true to their natures without retreating to old ground. New characters fit seamlessly into the landscape, with notable additions including Elias, theTransformers-obsessed Christian virgin, and Becky, the store’s warm, smart manager, who is played by a sparkling Rosario Dawson.

The film’s only shortfall is the clichéd “teach me how to dance at my wedding” plot device, but a hilarious full-cast dance number saves it. The film has many other highlights, such as Randal admitting that “porch monkey” is not a “non-racist” term. There’s also Elias and the trolls, and a spectacularly absurd cinematic climax.

The arrival of Clerks II in theaters is sure to spark new interest in the original film, sending fans back for a nostalgic viewing, and new moviegoers to see what they were missing. In fact, this film is the perfect entrée into Kevin Smith’s work for the uninitiated, including those who were too young to appreciate Chasing Amy or Dogma the first time around.

Tears thanks to Beer?

(published SB Indie June 29, 2006)

SANDLER GETS ENDEARING

Click. Adam Sandler, Kate Beckinsale, Christopher Walken

I thought I knew what to expect from Click, the new Adam Sandler vehicle with a sci-fi twist. I expected the usual brand of Sandler comedy: potty humor, childlike wit, flawed-but-likable characters, and probably some of the boredom that inevitably comes from seeing Sandler (however funny he is) play himself yet again. And Click mostly delivered. But it also gave me something I wasn’t prepared for: a nice, sincere crying jag.

See, the movie is about an ambitious businessman who never has time for his family or his health. And in a quirky twist of “It’s a Wonderful Life”-style fate, he’s given a remote control that works on not only his TV but (don’t be shocked now) HIS LIFE. (!!) Thing is, he abuses the tool’s power until he has no control over it. Until, of course, he learns his lesson and there’s a happy ending.

But though predictable, there was something about this movie that took it beyond the usual Sandler fare. The film’s comedy chops were certainly helped by good casting – David Hasselhoff is the perfect asshole boss, and Henry Winkler as a Jewish father might be the best use for the actor since Happy Days – and some creative jokes (including judicious restraint with those related to the remote’s uses.)

And though I admit my emotional reaction to the film might’ve been just the teeniest tiniest bit of an overreaction, I stand by the fact that there was something touching about Click. Maybe because this is one Sandler film where he actually plays an adult, and therefore deals with adult issues? Maybe because of the good job the supporting cast do of convincing us they’re his loving, neglected family?

Whatever the reason, Click is an endearing comedy. Either this movie really does have some heart, soul and life-affirming value, or I shouldn’t have had the beer with dinner.