There is way too much opening this weekend, and I have a ton of work to do that really should keep me inside at the laptop, but I feel like I have to try to get to one or more. I’ve actually had a week full of movie watching, but it’s been coupled with too much time spent sending emails as part of my job search. I did finally get to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and I intend to write in much more detail later (no really!), but my quick response is that I’m torn. I enjoyed a lot of the movie, but I’m incredibly disappointed in how Burton changed the end which actually completely transforms the entire spirit of the story. I think this film is a great case study for the problems involved in adaptation and especially how people often misuse the term “faithful.” Everyone is making such a big deal about how Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is more faithful to Roald Dah’s original book than the original 1971 film, but I take exception with that statement. Tim Burton’s film is anything but faithful, at least to the main elements of the book, although it is quite literal and scene-for-scene matches up better. Since Filmbrain and I often don’t come anywhere close to agreement, the fact that we mostly do in this case simply goes to reinforce that this disappointment (while still appreciating elements of the film) is the definitive opinion (natch!).
But Charlie’s already old news (even if it does have a reasonable shot at holding on to its box office crown). As far as what’s “new”?
There’s of course the new (and ooh, controversial!) Michael Winterbottom film 9 Songs, but it’s only showing at the dreaded Angelika. (Is anyone else curious to see who goes to the 11:20 AM show of this? No? Oh. Never mind.)
Then, of course, there’s the movie every downtown rock fan is waiting for, Last Days. I was a huge Nirvana fan, but I’m more interested in the film solely because of I’ve seen both of Gus Van Sant’s previous experiments in meditative filmmaking — Gerry and Elephant — both of which I found to be very noble and interesting attempts that resulted in ultimate failure (although I definitely liked the latter more). So far, I’ve heard very mixed things about Last Days — I’m curious to see for myself.
I’m not such a huge horror or Rob Zombie fan that I feel the need to see The Devil’s Rejects, but there are two other smaller films opening this week that I’m very curious about: First at the IFC Center is The Edukators, a seemingly interesting German thriller about three friends and activists who gain notoriety protesting excessive wealth by sneaking into rich people’s homes and rearranging all the furniture. Of course, since this is a movie, eventually this has to escalate into something even more criminal and dangerous. There’s also November starring Courtney Cox (don’t call me Arquette this time!) which was at Sundance back in 2004 but is just now getting a release (in NY and LA today) from Sony Classics. I saw a trailer recently, and it seemed intriguing. Of course, it also seemed like it could be an overdone piece of shit, but still … curious.
Also, if you haven’t seen Hustle & Flow yet, you should. While I didn’t love it as much as my screening companions and a lot of people seem to, it’s still a definite thumb-up, and it includes a phenomenal performance by Terrence Howard.
And oh yes, there are two huge studio releases this weekend, from directors who quite literally exist on opposite ends of the talent spectrum; one film I’m very much looking forward to and the other I’m looking forward to once again experiencing extreme disappointment. Richard Linklater is quite simply one of the best and probably the most versatile, directors working today. Hands down. His involvement (way more so than Billy Bob’s) is the only reason why the remake of The Bad News Bears is at least as good an idea as Burton’s seemingly natural choice to tackle Charlie. I’m hoping that I won’t have a similar reaction, although Bad News Bears has it easier not working from a beloved book.
On the other end of that talent spectrum is the consistently infuriating Michael Bay. You see, I don’t hate Bay, per se, I hate the absolute waste that is Bay’s talent. The man has such a brilliant eye, creating amazingly kinetic sequences with exciting images. But he doesn’t even pretend to try to tell a story, and his movies have no flow whatsoever. The Island looks like it has the potential to have a really cool sci-fi based story, but you just know he’s going to ruin the thing.
And will I get to any of these this weekend? Probably because what better way to procrastinate from all the shit I should be doing, no? Besides, I also still need to get to Batman Begins on the IMAX screen.
Out of Focus 