Out of Focus

A friend of mine is embarking on a very interesting short film project. Ten filmmakers making 10 shorts all inspired by and dedicated to this fair city of ours, New York. Like any indie film project, the most difficult part of production is the financing, so this Wednesday night there’s a little fundraising party. But this isn’t any crazy $500 per ticket extravaganza where Hollywood-types once again manage to say just enough of the wrong thing to create a backlash hurting their own cause. (Although, Whoopi, you are totally invited.) No, my friend’s not greedy. For just $10 you can come and enjoy yourself at this party, listen to some live music (apparently Jazz from 9-11 and “indie rock” from 11-1 – I’ll give you more info if I get any), meet some new people and feel good about contributing to helping a collective of young filmmakers create something special. OK, it may cost you more than $10 to enjoy yourself because it’s a cash bar, but you get my point. And even though I’ll be there too, you should still come. I’ll most likely just sulk in the corner so you won’t notice me anyway. Friends and stalkers are both welcome! The important info? Check the graphic — click to make it larger.

Wow, did I want to like Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. At least as much as I enjoyed Dodgeball. And in fact, I did like Anchorman, but I didn’t love it. Certainly not as much as Will Ferrell‘s last film, the new holiday classic — at least as far as I’m concerned — Elf. I know it’s received some pretty weak reviews, and I’ve read a couple of bloggers who apparently hated it. I don’t think it’s quite that bad either. Basically, what you get with Anchorman is a relatively mediocre film featuring a mostly great cast and some precious cameos with about 4 or 5 huge bellylaughs, a couple smaller chuckles and a bunch of huge comedic thuds.

Even though Ferrell’s Ron Burgundy does not stem directly from one of his Saturday Night Live characters, Anchorman is an SNL movie. Co-writer and director Adam McKay is a former SNL head writer, and as is the case with much of the talent that comes from this late-night TV institution, the sketch comedy influence is prevalent through his writing and directing style. The 70s retro shtick of Anchorman is funny here and there, but it’s not enough to carry the whole movie. And the best moments of the film have less to do with the haircuts and suits and more with some wonderfully absurd situations which Ferrell pulls off perfectly.

But McKay’s direction feels much more like a bunch of similarly themed sketches tied together with flimsy storytelling than one cohesive comedy. It’s obvious that in writing the script, Ferrell and McKay thought up plenty of, “Wouldn’t it be funny if …” moments, and even the basic storyline – Ron’s love affair with Veronica Corningstone and her infiltrating the male-only tradition of news teams – works sometimes. But too often the film sputters after a huge guffaw into a succession of relatively boring sequences or repetitive and not always funny jokiness.

Continue reading “NOT QUITE THE “AFTERNOON DELIGHT” HOPED FOR”

I feel like allowing for a little interactivity. Like a Madlib. As I mentioned previously, I was “lucky” enough to attend a screening of Vincent Gallo‘s new film The Brown Bunny recently. So when you’ve finished reading the following, you can help me complete the following sentence: “I somehow managed to become one of the few people ‘lucky’ enough to get an early peek at Gallo’s latest _______.” Fill in the blank with the noun or adjective and noun of your choosing.

According to an announcement made to the 50-odd audience members inside the small midtown screening room, this 90-odd minute version (nearly 25 minutes shorter than the one which caused such a negative uproar in Cannes in 2003) was screening to press and such for only the second time. Even the Toronto Film Festival screenings last year, which were received at least a bit more warmly, did not yet have a final soundtrack and mix.

I’ve made no secret of my absolute hatred of Gallo’s last film, Buffalo 66. That movie annoyed me virtually from the moment it started to unspool, and its irritating dialogue and situations just became progressively more painful until its eventual conclusion. However, I recognize that many misguided folks have somehow been deluded by whatever alien magnetism Gallo possesses into enjoying the movie. In fact, Roger Ebert raved about it (in one of, to me, his more incomprehensible reviews), but when Ebert saw The Brown Bunny in Cannes, he was apparently traumatized, criticizing the movie so harshly that Gallo decided the way to fight back was to put a curse on his colon.

My experience with The Brown Bunny was a curious one. On the one hand, I can see why an extra 20-or-so minutes would cause most audience members, especially those who may be of a more advanced age, to feel as if the deserved a personal apology from Gallo for wasting such precious life moments when they could have been … I don’t know … starring blankly at a pebble of sand on the beach. Still, while my friend took several little naps during the first hour or so, I found myself repeatedly amused.

Don’t get me wrong: my amusement wasn’t due to any real enjoyment of the film but rather due to a continued disbelief at the filmmaking. Between naps, my friend would often sigh; I, on the other hand, would chuckle. I guess having such low expectations coming in as well as a preconceived dislike for Gallo’s filmmaking made seeing all these otherwise annoying moments slightly, well … funny.

Here’s the other thing: believe it or not, some of The Brown Bunny actually is kind of interesting. Once you get through the interminable first hour, the final 25-30 minutes (which includes Gallo’s ultimate narcissistic moment – the blow-job from Chloe Sevigny) is actually not a horrible short film, as long as you’re judging as if said short was made by an early-20s NYU or Columbia MFA student with no budget.

Let me share my experience with you, just a little bit. Here’s the context: Gallo plays a motorcycle racer named Bud. The film opens with him racing. Then he needs to go to California where he lives and will next race, so he drives cross-country to do so. Along the way, he encounters three different women who’s “flower” names (i.e., Violet, Lilly, Rose) remind him of his old girlfriend Daisy (Sevigny), whom he obviously still loves but no longer is with. I say “encounters” because that’s really all that happens – an encounter. And he can usually get them to kiss him – without saying or doing anything except asking … one of the times. Of course, none of them can live-up to his ideal of Daisy, so he moves on. He also visits Daisy’s parents (next to whom he apparently lived while growing-up) during which we learn virtually nothing. To be fair, though, this is the one and only scene in the beginning of the movie that carries any weight once the film is over. When he gets back to LA, he tries to find Daisy, but she seems to not be at home, so he leaves a note telling her where to meet him. He checks into a motel and Daisy shows up. She gives him a blow-job. The end.

Almost. There’s actually more – a twist even – that is not completely unpredictable, but remains slightly satisfying. But the reason the blow-job is all most people know regarding this movie is more because there’s almost nothing else to there. Sure Gallo is trying to tell a story of love, lost love, regret, loneliness, isolation, etc., but ultimately he has simply again produced an exercise in boredom. Believe me, I get this film. Everything is very calculated without being complicated. Yet it still makes me want to scream; when I’m not chuckling.

I look forward to hearing how fans of Buffalo 66 respond to this film, although I’m particularly curious to read Roger Ebert’s eventual review upon seeing this shorter final cut. I actually don’t understand how, if you liked Gallo’s earlier film, you wouldn’t like this one. There are two elements — stylistically and thematically — that are direct descendents of what we’ve seen from him before.

Continue reading “LIKE ANY PORNO MOVIE, NOTHING HAPPENS, AND THEN THERE’S A BLOW JOB”

The Ultra-cool Australian host gives some final instructions before a mass of people starts running for their backpacks and cars. They’re all energized and anxious, and some trip over each other unintentionally. They’re rushing to drive to the airport, and everything is very kinetic, frantic, rushed. The anticipation and excitement mounts, and everyone is yelling, backseat drivers directing their partners because they have to get on the right plane. Bump, Bump. Bump, Bump. The SUVs start to cross-fade into a big animated map of the globe and the theme music starts, and I start to grin, feeling a bit giddy as I’m instantly reminded of why The Amazing Race is far and away the best reality show on the air, as well as being one of the best current television shows period.

I’m not going to write an actual recap of the first episode because Miss Alli of Television Without Pity will do that far better than I can. But I do want to encourage everyone to give this perennially endangered show (last year’s Emmy win not withstanding) a shot, even if you don’t consider yourself a watcher of reality TV. In four previous tries, TAR (as fans affectionately call it) has managed one thing that no other reality show of any type – from The Real World to Survivor to The Bachelor to The Restaurant to Big Brother – has ever accomplished: it has never been boring. Not once. Aside from excellent production values and generally fantastic casting, the very nature and format of the show almost precludes TAR from succumbing to the same fate that inevitably seems to afflict its brethren. The reasons are actually simple: TAR allows itself more variables than other shows. Relationships between all the contestants play into every episode, but only to a degree. Plus, since the participants are in teams of two, you have the different dynamics or the partners themselves as well as the various teams that choose to work with, or against, each other. But then there are also the physical and strategic aspects of the game: how much money do we spend? Do we take go after the Fast Forward or (this season) take the Yield now, and never be able to use it again the rest of the race? Or, as was the case in the first episode, do we rush to get on the first flight leaving, or investigate if maybe the second flight somehow gets us to the destination earlier?

Alliances can only take you so far in TAR. And unlike every other show, the cumulative effects of the entire period involved only has limited influence on the eventual outcome. The producers (wisely, I think) structure the various legs of the race so that no one can take too big a lead. At some point, there will inevitably be the “bunching” (as it’s called on TWoP) that evens out the field, giving that team that just escaped elimination a chance to win and knocking the previous first place team out of the race. Unlike Survivor which lends itself to office pools because at least educated guesses are possible, TAR has the ability to surprise every week. And as the show progresses, the personalities of the people, both as teams and individual players, cause viewers to root for their favorites and to delight in the demise of (or often agonize in the success of) their (antonym favorite). The most complicated example was the third season during which poor Zach was saddled with his bitchy, lazy, Sybil-like partner Flo. In the most conflicting ending in show history, Zach and Flor won. Conflicting because everyone hated whiney-ass Flo who took advantage of her being a cute girl and her partners obvious more-than-friends feelings for her. Nobody wanted her to win. On the other hand, the fact that Zach was able to win with Albatross-Flo dragging him backwards was remarkable, and if anyone deserved it, he did.

The casting seems to always include some basic reality-show, or at least TAR-specific, archetypes, and already I can see that this new group of contestants should provide a season of entertainment. If you missed the first episode on Wednesday (or the replay at 8 PM tonight/Saturday), you should definitely check-out the TWoP recap when it’s finally posted, and in the meantime, I’ll help you familiarize yourself with the current cast, after the jump.

Continue reading “A REALITY SHOW THAT LIVES UP TO ITS NAME”

I like him and all, but Jimmy Fallon is no John Cusack. Of course, “Fever Pitch” and “High Fidelity” aren’t the same story even though they both come from the mind of Nick Hornby. Even so, I’ll still stick to Fallon is no Cusack. Yet it looks like Fallon will join Drew Barrymore to star in a filmed adaptation of Hornby’s soccer novel (via The Hollywood Reporter; sub req’d for access to full story). The Farrelly Bros. must, for some reason, be feeling a bit insecure as to their pedigree as they will follow the Weitz Bros. in tackling a Hornby adaptation, since they appear to be in talks to direct. Here’s hoping the Farrellys can live up to their predecessors, which were both among the best book-to-film adaptations of the last several years.

Is Jeff Goldblum really interesting enough to be the focus of a documentary? According to The Hollywood Reporter, Chris Bradley and Kyle LaBrache think so as they are now following Goldblum with cameras to document “his romantic and professional endeavors.” (via Yahoo! & Reuters) Apparently, Goldblum’s career is soaring since he starred in two huge blockbuster films; the doc will feature a behind-the-scenes look at the production of The Music Man in which Goldblum, his fiancee, Ed Begley Jr. and Illeana Douglas currently star — in Pittsburgh, PA.

If you happen to have a copy of today’s Daily Variety (the actual paper), at least the Gotham edition, there is something terrifying covering pages 2-3. It’s an ad for The Day After Tomorrow showing tsunamis crashing down on the Sydney Opera House and the Statue of Liberty along with a frozen tundra surrounding the Eiffel Tower and Big Ben. Oh … that’s not the scary part. There’s a banner running across the ad which reads, “STILL TAKING THE WORLD BY STORM $500,000,000.” This movie has made $500-Million?!?! I don’t care if that is worldwide; it’s a damn crime that 20th Century Fox has stolen that much money from people around the world. And considering that through last weekend it had made $180-Million domestically, that means over $300-Million is coming from people who don’t live in the “richest country in the world.” It’s appalling. I hope Roland Emmerich finds himself on a deserted ship with hungry escaped wolves chasing him, because as shown in his film, that would be a likely and natural occurrence.

My predictions for this weekend: I say (and hope) Anchorman will beat out King Arthur (Friday-Sunday), and Spider-Man 2 will remain strong. I’m going to make wild, shot-in-the-dark (probably under-)estimates here: Spidey keeps the top-spot with about $55-Million; Will Ferrell comes in second with $28-Million; Keira mixed with 5th-Century explosions attracts a relatively disappointing $20-Million; Fahrenheit 9/11 expands to even more theaters, gets closer to becoming the first doc to gross $100-Million and should be able to bring in a good $16-Million after cover stories in Time and Entertainment Weekly. And the last wide opener this weekend, Sleepover should have a rough chance even breaking the top-five. With Harry Potter, Shrek 2 and even Garfield (the cat has pulled in over $60-Million!) still running (relatively) strong, there’s too much kids & tween competition out there for this awful-looking, rehash comedy. I think it will be lucky to pull-in $6-Mil. So now everyone, go see it to prove me wrong!

At least, as we all now know, that’s what happened when Andrew Jarecki started documenting the worklife of one of NYC’s most popular childrens party clowns and wound up with the remarkable documentary Capturing the Friedmans, an Oscar caliber film that unfortunately for it came out the same year as The Fog of War. If you didn’t see it in the theater and you never rented the DVD, tonight is your first chance to make up for those mistakes as it will premiere on HBO at 9 PM. Really … don’t miss it. And if you’re curious about David Friedman’s life as a clown — the film that started it all — Jarecki completed it as a 20-minute short, has called it Just a Clown, and it airs tomorrow night at 7:30 PM, also on HBO. Just don’t expect any connection to the feature-length documentary in the short. It’s title is Just a Clown, and a clown is all it’s about.

I knew there was something missing from the reality-TV lineup this summer: It’s rumspringa, MTV-style. Since UPN is a sibling to MTV, I feel I can say that. Besides — “Filmed in secrecy over the past two months, Real World-esque skein puts five Amish youth and six streetwise roommates into an ultramodern Hollywood Hills home and captures what happens when the two cultures come together.” (And if you’ve never seen Devil’s Playground, it’s an interesting little doc. Sadly, the subject matter is more compelling than the film itself, but even in its cinematic average-ness, it’s worth a viewing.)

I’m not sure whether this qualifies as “completely unnecessary” or just “a really bad idea,” but can anyone give me one good reason why anyone thinks an 8th Police Academy movie should even be a twinkle in a creative exec’s eye? Series producer Paul Maslansky says, “I felt it was time to start again.” No offense to Mr. Maslansky, but he’s 70 years old, and obviously the “what’s funny” gene left him no later than Police Academy 2. The first film was funny. So funny, that it managed to make Steve Guttenberg an actual movie star. The scariest part of this story? “According to Maslansky … the talent from the first seven features has expressed a keen interest in the revival, with Maslansky looking to combine both new and the ‘original talent’ for the next Police Academy.”

Similarly seeming like a really bad idea, yet confusing due to some of the talent involved, “Spider-Man is about to become a musical.” Hey … hey … you OK? I know. I went blind and passed out for a moment as well. I can’t think of a cornier idea. But get this: book writer – Neil Jordan (Mr. The Crying Game); songs by Bono and The Edge (you know … that little indie start-up band of Dubliners, U2); and directed by the visionary Julie Taymor who turned The Lion King into The Lion King, a musical spectacle to end all musical spectacles.

In other Broadway news, my next highly-anticipated show is obviously Spamelot. That would be the Broadway-bound musical “‘lovingly ripped off from the motion picture, Monty Python and the Holy Grail,’ the 1975 comedy directed by Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones.” Aside from the previously reported news that Mike Nichols will direct, the producers have now announced that “David Hyde Pierce, Tim Curry and Hank Azaria were named on Wednesday as the leading trio” for the show. Now that’s casting!

It looks like the long in-the-works adaptation of Marvel comic “The Fantastic Four” is moving full-steam ahead. Tim Story was anointed director a couple months ago, and Michael Chiklis was recently cast to turn his bald tough-guy scowl on The Shield into big rocky muscle as The Thing. Now it’s been announced that Ioan Gruffudd (currently seen as Lancelot in King Arthur) has been cast as Four-leader Reed Richards a/k/a Mr. Fantastic, and Chris Evans will play The Human Torch. As the article notes, “That leaves the Invisible Girl as the remaining slot on the cast. Sources indicated that the filmmakers have zeroed in on several actresses for that part, including Jessica Alba (Honey) and Rachel McAdams (The Notebook).” Uhm … my vote is for Mean Girl McAdams over superhot but robotic J.Lo and Mariah wannabe Alba. Actually, my real vote is to keep looking.

And finally, I would send a fan letter to Lindsayism over Lohan any day, but it wouldn’t be as entertaining as this letter from a slightly-confused teenage Lohan fan in Taiwan. And Lindsay (Robertson), sure everyone say that you pretty. We also would love to hear you sing all of Lohan’s songs from Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen.

OK, so all that film noir set? Great. Go buy it. Good times. But if you want to see one of the most incredible documentaries about film and film history, go rent/buy Martin Scorsese’s Il Mio Viaggio in Italia, a/k/a, My Voyage to Italy. This two disc, 4-plus hour documentary is the best introduction to classic Italian Neorealism one could hope for. Scorsese leads the audience through the evolution of post-War Italian cinema by relating his own personal exposure to the films of Rossellini, De Sica, Fellini, Antonioni and Visconti. I saw this film for the first time at the New York Film Festival about three years ago (I believe), and was mesmerized for the entire screening. After watching it, I wanted to instantly rush out and see every last one of the films referenced, and since that time, I have seen many. If you’re a film lover and already know about these directors and the Neorealism movement, you will still learn something from this documentary. If you’re a film fan and have never heard of Neorealism (a precursor to the La Nouvelle Vague in France), then watch this docu and let a whole new world of spectacular movies open up to you. This is a spectacular film, and along with A Personal Journey Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies, one of the best studies of film you’ll ever see or read.

Briefly: I neglected to mention earlier two other films noir released on DVD yesterday separate from Warner Bros.’ box set. Universal has put out — unfortunately with much less fanfare or promotion — editions of The Big Clock and Criss-Cross. The Big Clock is another classic noir with a fantastic cast featuring Ray Milland, Charles Laughton and Maureen O’Sullivan. Criss-Cross is an oft-forgotten noir classic starring Burt Lancaster and a pre-Lily Munster Yvonne De Carlo. It was directed by the great Robert Siodmak, teaming-up again with Lancaster as they had done just a few years earlier to make another member of the definitive-noir canon: The Killers, which is already out in a spectacular Criterion release.

I just got this link from a friend of mine about The Blue Jam Sessions at the House of Blues in Chicago. Yeah, it’s sponsored by American Express, but so what. The Blue Jam Sessions are three concerts: Big Boi and Sleepy Brown on July 15; Counting Crowes, Graham Colton Band and Jem on July 16; and (get this) Morrissey on July 17. But if you don’t live in Chicago, why do you (or I) care? Because if you go to this website, you can enter to win an all-expense paid trip to Chicago for all three shows!

And no, I don’t work for American Express either. My bills are currently paid for by a completely different monolithic major media corporation. Which is good, because that means I get to enter too!

UPDATED: I just noticed, today is the last day to enter, at midnight Pacific time, so get over to the website … or don’t. Means more of a shot for me.

I’m still trying to find some time to get to my Spider-Man 2 rave and my Brown Bunny … well … I’m not sure what that will be yet, but it likely won’t be as nice to Vincent Gallo as Chlo&#235 was. Anyway, those eagerly anticipated (you can pretend, no?) posts will arrive soon … I swear. In the meantime …

Stories like this must be the reason that the Associated Press exists. Stop the presses! ‘Spider-Man’ Tobey Maguire Hates Heights.

In sadder news — at least, news that is actually sadder because that previous headline is sad in a completely different way — the much lesser-known Douglas gets the worst kind of unwanted attention. It’s got to be hard to be Kirk‘s son and Michael‘s youngest brother. The “baby” of the family, Eric obviously on some level wanted the attention a youngest sibling often receives, but with that level of superstardom around, it must have been difficult. He tried to be an actor, but hasn’t been in anything for over 10 years, instead going the Todd Bridges, Dana Plato route that Mary-Kate Olsen is currently trying to avoid. R.I.P. Eric.

You’ve gotta love the NY Post for not just acknowledging its mistake in annointing Dick Gephardt as Kerry’s running mate, but in mocking itself with a nearly identical cover today. “Really” is really the capper for me. I rarely read the Post (or The Daily News for that matter — who needs them when you’ve got Gawker and Gothamist?) — I hate getting all that meaningless ink on my fingers. But I’ll give them their props. Now, who was fired??

And finally, King Arthur opens today, and while I’m not a huge Antoine Fuqua fan (Training Day would have been nothing without Denzel Washington‘s powerful performance), the trailer looks all big and fun and exciting … and there’s Keira Knightley. Clive Owen as Arthur is interesting, and the rest of the cast is filled with very talented, Hey-It’s-That-Guy actors, but really, at the end of the day, it’s all about Keira. (even when she looks like that second one!)