On the Road vs. Great Gatsby in 2012

     2 of the most well loved American classics are coming to the big screen this year.  Walter Salles, director of the Motorcycle Diaries and the impressive Central Station, directs On the Road, while Baz Luhrman takes another shot at a non-musical with the Great Gatsby.  How is it possible 2 of the most well loved American novels turned to film can be directed by an Australian and a Brazilian?  I'm kind of surprised neither of these titles fell to a Scorsese, Spielberg, or Howard. 
  

    To start with On the Road, on the surface the cast looks impressive, Amy Adams, Kirsten Dunst, Viggo Mortensen, Steve Buscemi, Elizabeth Moss, and Terrence Howard.  On further inspection however, these actors play only the supporting characters.  For some reason funding was drastically cut for this picture, despite being a benchmark of 20th century American literature, and the financial upside of this film can't be that great.  All the major roles are cast with relative unknowns, Sam Riley (Brighton Rock) as Sal Paradise, Tom Sturridge (Being Julia, Pirate Radio) as Carlo Marx, and Garrett Hedlund (Tron Legacy, Friday Night Lights) as Dean Moriarty.  Yes, Kristen Stewart also plays Marylou.  A grouping of relatively hot young actors for sure, but I'm not convinced any of them have the background to pull this off, though I am hopeful.  With a budget of only $25 million you can't really hope for a high caliber cast, beyond this, even even they had to take a pay cut to stay involved. 

     On to Gatsby.  A much bigger budget Hollywood adaptation with the requisite big name stars and director.  Baz Luhrman is really more known for musical pieces like Moulin Rouge and Strictly Ballroom and it should be interesting to see what he can do with a more understated storyline like Gatsby's.  He's been doing mostly short films since the highly anticipated but uneven Australia and this is his jump back into big budget Hollywood, like $127 million big budget films.  I'm not much of a DiCaprio fan outside of This Boy's Life and Basketball Diaries but I think he is perfect for this role of Jay Gatsby.  Much like Catch Me If You Can and Titanic, I can envision him more as a rich Long Islander than I can as some sort of action star as in a Blood Diamond or Gangs of New York.  I can't think of anyone better to cast in this role.  For Daisy Buchanan, Carey Mulligan, probably my favorite current young actress today.  This role was apparently incredibly sought out by the A list Hollywood crowd, Portman, McAdams, Hathaway, Seyfried, Wilde, Johansson, and even Alba were considered.  I think this was a fantastic choice.  For Nick Carraway, Tobey Maguire.  I've never really understood how he has become so popular.  Outside of Wonder Boys and the Ice Storm I've never really appreciated much that he has been in honestly.  The role will reunite him with Mulligan who was also in Brothers with Maguire, but I think the other co-star of that film, Jake Gyllenhaal might have been a better choice.  Maquire is closer to Sam Waterston in looks and demeanor though, the Nick Carraway of the 1974 Francis Ford Coppola written adaptation before this one.  Unfortunately that film never really lived up to the hype either, despite an all star cast of the time with Redford, Farrow, Dern, and Black. 

     I'm sure I'll end up seeing both of these though I'd bet that Gatsby proves to be the real winner.  Fitzgerald's work never really achieves the greatness it deserves on screen.  Benjamin Button was a critical and commercial success of course, but I still think the Last Tycoon with DeNiro is my favorite Fitzgerald adaptation to hit the big screen. 

Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom coming in 2012

  I really have some high hopes for this film.  I like pretty much all of what Wes Anderson has brought to the screen and this cast is phenomenal, Murray, Swinton, Balaban, Norton, Willis, McDormand, Keitel, Schwartzman.....  Roman Coppola writes the screenplay, his first since the enjoyable Darjeeling Limited, and it looks to have the normal quirk of characters expected in a Wes Anderson film, though somehow missing a Wilson brother.  It's also the first PG-13 Anderson film, save for the animated Fantastic Mr. Fox.  All signs point to this being a great film, and one I'm really looking forward to this year.

Altman's Nashville playing at American Art May 24

I'm a huge Robert Altman fan and I've never seen this film on a big screen.  One of the best political films of all time, the themes still relevant today.  This movie is vintage Altman,  the last of his really great 1970's films.  You can't beat FREE. 

When	Thursday, May 24, 2012, 6:30pm
Categories	After Five, Films
Location	American Art Museum, Portrait Gallery
Event Location	McEvoy Auditorium, Lower Level
Cost	Free
Note	(1975, 159 min, R) This dark comedy follows twentyfour characters in the country music capital of the world during the hectic days leading up to a rally for a populist presidential hopeful. Directed by Robert Altman. Classic American films are jointly presented by the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery. The Smithsonian American Art Museum thanks museum patrons for their support of the Film and Media Arts program.

The Hunger Games

     Ah the Hunger Games, where to even begin.  In an effort to stay current on pop culture happenings I broke down and paid to see the the Hunger Games in the theater, in Georgetown no less.  Having never read the books my main draw was Jennifer Lawrence.  She definitely hasn't supplanted Carey Mulligan or Greta Gerwig on my favorite up and coming actress list, but I really like her a lot.  I saw her first in a tiny role in the Burning Plain a couple years back and again in a surprisingly good X Men First class, but nothing was as impressive as Winter's Bone from 2010. Lawrence carries that entire film on her back, a film that made less than $14 million worldwide, but was what I thought, the best film of 2010. She lost the best actress nom to a crappy Natalie Portman in Black Swan, who wasn't even the best actress in that film, in a field that included Kidman, Bening, and Williams.  
     I had a pretty good idea of what the Hunger Games would be all about, and was hoping for a bleak dystopian view of the future like so many classic 1970's films.  I saw that there were some pretty solid actors appearing in minor roles, some great like Woody Harrelson and Stanley Tucci, some barely there like Toby Jones and Donald Sutherland, and some ridiculously over the top like Lenny Kravitz and an unrecognizable Elizabeth Banks.  It had the makings of an enjoyable but most likely formulaic Hollywood action film. 
     It's not that bad actually.  The acting is either over the top like Tucci and Harrelson, or way too bland, like most of the other characters, but nothing yell at the screen bad. I knew the huge draw of the books going into the film and the audience reflected the demographic, with one young lady literally on the edge of her seat throughout the second half of the film.  The problem with getting any book to the screen of course is what to cut out, luckily never having read the books this wasn't a huge issue for me but has apparently ignited several debates among the die hard fans.  My only real problem was that it took too long to get to the actual Hunger Games themselves, and once it did get there, the ending came way too fast and tacked on.  In addition, as with any of these film franchises, I felt like I didn't get a whole movie but rather a third of a film, like watching the first half of the Harry Potter finale. 
     The most confusing thing was how Gary Ross managed to land writing and directing what is sure to be a blockbuster trilogy.   Sure, he's written popular films in the past, Big, Dave, and even the classic Mr. Baseball, but he has basically disappeared for a decade.  His last directing work was Seabiscuit and Pleasantville, and those were years ago, neither showing a penchant for heavier material like Hunger Games. 
    As a big Hollywood film, I enjoyed it, I didn't go in with lofty expectations, and came out entertained.  I actually liked the not so subtle commentary on our voyeuristic and media driven society, and the reflections of our reality TV obsessions.  Thankfully these points weren't labored upon too much.  I pulled for the main character Katniss the entire way thourgh the film as she progressed from unwilling participant to generally dominating badass.  This film isn't going to win any of the talent awards but I left happy I went, and that's really all you can ask for.  

The State Within: 2006

Yes, this is a picture of the British Ambassador surviving a plane crash / car crash on the Beltway.

I really liked  this TV Show/miniseries from BBC.  Why do the British do United State backroom political dealings better than we do at home, just like In the Loop (2009)?  Lucius Malfoy (Jason Isaacs) as the British Ambassador, seriously, after getting some insight after a couple episodes of West Wing? Cagney (Sharon Gless) as a Hillary-esque Secretary of Defense.  The plot is pretty solid for a 6 hour mini-series with plenty of relatively original plot twists throughout.  The only downside was a somewhat tacked on ending.  It wasn't really that the ending wasn't believable, just rushed and not too well tied up.  It could have used another episode.  How I can I complain though, it was on Netflix watch now, all I sacrificed was a 2:30am bedtime one night to power through the last 3 hours of episodes.  I wouldn't call it Wire-worthy by any means but I was pretty impressed. 

http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/The_State_Within/70202611?trkid=4213507

Robert Bresson films at NGA

Bresson was a great filmmaker, probably known best for A Man Escaped or L'Argent.  He never gained a lot of fame in his lifetime and rarely used professional actors after his first several films. The National Gallery of Art is showing a retrospective of his work this coming month that I am definitely trying to get to, info below.

Robert Bresson

March 3, 10, 11, 17, 18, 24, 25, 31
April 1

East Building Concourse, Auditorium

Robert Bresson (1901–1999), one of the most refined and rigorous of filmmakers, was also one of the most spiritual—indeed his Jansenist perspective is fundamental to the coherence of his work. Pared-down narratives and understated moral observations are realized through an economy of means hardly matched in the cinema. From early on, the use of nonprofessional actors, restrained though elegant camera style, orchestrated dialogue, embedded sound effects and music, and elliptical storytelling became his hallmarks. Bresson managed, with self-imposed rules, to execute works of passion and suspense while still observing the mysterious movements of fate. This retrospective of all extant works has been organized by James Quandt and the Cinemathèque Ontario. With special thanks to the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, the Institut français, and Paramount.

Les Anges du Péché

March 3 at 2:00

East Building Concourse, Auditorium

Anne-Marie, a novice in the Sisters of Bethany convent, has to confront her own bourgeois background and immature moral character when she takes on the rehabilitation of the delinquent Thérèse, imprisoned for crimes committed by a lover. Completed while the German army was still occupying France, Les Anges du Péché was written in part by the noted dramatist Jean Giraudoux. (1943, 35 mm, French with subtitles, 100 minutes)

Pickpocket

March 3 at 4:15

East Building Concourse, Auditorium

Introduction by Keith Cohen
The all but lost art of the pickpocket—an occupation dependent on a perpetrator's economy of gesture and expressionless face (traits typical of Bresson's actors)—was the subject of one of the director's most memorable works. With a nod to Crime and Punishment, Pickpocket's portrait of a student consumed by a fatal fixation is so suited to the director's formalist practice that the understated action actually reveals a thorough knowledge of the subject matter—displayed in a tour-de-force sequence of takings, passings, and disposals in the Gare de Lyon. Untrained actors appear instinctively to grasp the maneuvers of this ancient form of scam. (1959, 35 mm, French with subtitles, 75 minutes)

Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne

March 10 at 4:30

East Building Concourse, Auditorium

Hélène (Maria Casarès), doubting her lover's devotion, plots a bitter revenge. She will entice him into a relationship with a prostitute, taking pains to disguise the true occupation of her innocent decoy. Robert Bresson's screenplay and Jean Cocteau's dialogue for Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne loosely derive from an 18th-century story, Denis Diderot's Jacques le Fataliste et Son Maître. Though the film's mise-en-scène appears outwardly conventional for its period, Bresson's interior psychological rigor is abundantly evident: "one could hardly be anywhere but in Bresson's world"—Tom Milne. (1945, 35 mm, French with subtitles, 90 minutes)

Diary of a Country Priest

March 11 at 4:30

East Building Concourse, Auditorium

By 1950 Bresson had attained his mature style—rational and reserved, with carefully calibrated sound, ellipses, a stately pace, and low-key performances. In this adaptation of Catholic fiction writer Georges Bernanos's 1936 Le Journal d’un Curé de Campagne, the director follows the novel's main idea and dialogue—the journal entries of a young rural clergyman—and creates a controlled yet poignant cinematic experience. The naive priest, settling into his first assignment after seminary, dedicates himself to his local parishioners who, in turn, often mock him and fail to appreciate his work. (1950, 35 mm, French with subtitles, 114 minutes)

Four Nights of a Dreamer

March 17 at 4:30

East Building Concourse, Auditorium

Though Dostoyevsky's 1848 tale White Nights has had a number of cinematic interpretations over the years, none have been as visually compelling as Bresson's Four Nights of a Dreamer (Quatre Nuits d’un Rêveur), which shifts the setting from Saint Petersburg to Paris. The protagonist, an artist who dreams of finding an idyllic love, discovers a young woman who has just lost her lover. Following a fateful first meeting on the Pont Neuf, the couple shares three more rendezvous, until finally the woman's truant suitor reappears. "I can think of nothing so ravishing as this strange romantic vision of the city, the Seine, the softly lighted boats in the night"—Roger Greenspun. (1972, 35 mm, French with subtitles, 91 minutes)

Au Hasard, Balthazar
followed by Mouchette

March 18 at 4:30

East Building Concourse, Auditorium

The donkey Balthazar, separated from his young companion, Marie (Anne Wiazemsky), is the star of Bresson's taut parable. Subjected to different owners—a teacher, a baker, a schoolgirl, even the circus—Balthazar is mute witness to humanity's depravity, as each new twist brings both love and pain but always a new insult. The donkey bears his anguish with grace, and the film culminates in a kind of deification in a field filled with sheep. "Bresson's supreme masterpiece and one of the greatest movies ever made"—J. Hoberman. (1966, 35 mm, French with subtitles, 95 minutes)
Georges Bernanos's Nouvelle Histoire de Mouchette was the source for Bresson's next feature, a study of a mute and solitary village schoolgirl forced to care for an ailing mother and brother. Hardly an idyllic existence, yet Mouchette is cannily able to survive on her instincts. The use of random sounds is effective—not only strategically placed tones throughout the narrative, but also the poignant use of Monteverdi on the music track during the final sequence. "Like the donkey Balthazar, Mouchette has no language with which to express despair"—Judy Bloch. (1967, 35 mm, French with subtitles, 82 minutes)

The Devil, Probably

March 24 at 2:00

East Building Concourse, Auditorium

"My sickness is that I see things clearly," remarks Antoine Monnier, the student protagonist of The Devil, Probably (Le Diable Probablement). Anxious over the world's problems and growing greed, he begins in protest to plan his own death. We see fragments of his life, his spiritual decline in a world "where even the churches are empty, dirty places." A scathing look at the inhumanity of modern life, often via carefully edited documentary footage, the film is both "an affirmation of a purity no longer possible within society, and a portent of the millions of deaths, not self-willed, which must inevitably follow given the course of society's crimes"—Verina Glaessner. (1977, 35 mm, French with subtitles, 90 minutes)

A Man Escaped

March 25 at 4:30

East Building Concourse, Auditorium

In a cell in the Fort Montluc military prison in occupied Lyon, Lieutenant François Leterrier starts thinking of escape. Moments of chance are vital (a friend's unsuccessful escape attempt, the unwelcome roommate who must be enlisted or killed, intense focus on small objects) and, in a very quiet film, the orchestration of sounds—footsteps, interjections of the Kyrie from Mozart's Mass, taps on the wall, and the squeak of a guard's bicycle. Bresson based his first solo screenplay on a first-person account by French Resistance fighter André Devigny (who served as technical advisor), creating a work of intense mysticism and mortal suspense. (1956, 35 mm, French with subtitles, 95 minutes)

The Trial of Joan of Arc

March 31 at 2:30

East Building Concourse, Auditorium

Court transcripts from Joan of Arc's 15th-century heresy trial have been the basis for many works, from Shaw's drama Saint Joan, to Dreyer's silent film La Passion de Jeanne d’Arc, to Bresson's The Trial of Joan of Arc (Procès de Jeanne d’Arc). The direct, unadorned aesthetic of the last carries a sense of detachment—her case is presented without pretext or emotion. Voices and other sounds, such as the verbal invectives delivered by church officials and sycophants, play a critical role in setting the tone. Interestingly, there is no music. "To the faithful—witnesses to the action in the courtroom—God is revealed through Joan's voice (as Joan's 'voices' had revealed God to her)"—Robert Droguet. (1962, 35 mm, French with subtitles, 65 minutes)

Lancelot du Lac

March 31 at 4:00

East Building Concourse, Auditorium

In Lancelot du Lac (Lancelot of the Lake) Bresson's focus is the knights' return to King Arthur's court after their failed quest for the Grail. A sense that their fellowship is in decline casts a somber mood, and the knights are anxious and unsettled. A deconstruction of the legend leading to a devastating finale, the spare narrative draws attention to random sounds like the clink of armor, and to visual details—the centerpiece is a tournament viewed mainly through oblique shots of horses' legs. With the roundtable about to come to an end, Bresson foregrounds the love of Lancelot and Guenièvre—"the one positive force amid the social decay in Camelot"—Kristin Thompson. (1974, 35 mm, French with subtitles, 95 minutes)

Une Femme Douce
followed by L'Argent

April 1 at 4:00

East Building Concourse, Auditorium

At the time he started to film in color, Bresson's work also turned darker. Une Femme Douce is another Dostoyevsky adaptation (of the Russian writer's 1876 elliptical short story "A Gentle Creature"). The suicide of a young wife (Dominique Sanda) leads her bewildered husband, the owner of a pawn shop, to narrate their story in an attempt to make sense of the tragedy. Was it because of something misaligned in their marriage? "The extraordinary thing about the film is that any interpretation can be read into it, still leaving, undisturbed at the bottom of the pool, an indefinable sense of despair"—Tom Milne. (1969, 35 mm, French with subtitles, 88 minutes)
In L’Argent, an innocent man is caught in an escalating cycle of evil when a forged 500-franc note, casually passed off, leads to bribery, imprisonment, a marriage breakup, multiple murders, and finally his arrest. Adapted from Leo Tolstoy's The False Note, "L’Argent has the manner of an official report, the tone of a spiritual autopsy . . . telling its ruthless tale without once raising its voice"—Russell Merritt. (1982, 35 mm, French with subtitles, 85 minutes)

2012 Oscar Short Films: Live Action

     If you've never been before, E Street Cinema and I think West End, both do an annual showing of all the nominated short subject live action, short subject animation, and short subject documentary films right before the Oscars.  They play all the nominations back to back, with no trailers or previews, which makes for a pretty nice experience.  You also get to see 5 films for the price of one and the subject matter is always wide ranging, as is the quality, and country of origin.  I've been a couple years in DC, missing last year, but I always find that it's one of the best film experiences of my year.  Whoever puts this slate of films together did an excellent job in choosing the order in which to screen them, highs and lows, humor and sadness, back and forth through the night.  I stole the film synopses then added my commentary or personal opinions below.  

Pentecost
Ireland, 1977. After a mortifying mishap during mass one Sunday involving a wayward thurible of burning incense, Damien Lynch (Scott Graham) is kicked off the altar-boy squad and banned from his favorite pastime, football. But with the archbishop making an appearance at the local parish and one of his teammates disqualified for not being baptized, Damien is given a second chance to get back in the lineup and, better yet, watch Liverpool play in the European Cup Final. In his directorial debut, actor Peter McDonald draws fun parallels between the team sports of altar serving and soccer, and Graham is a likable imp rebelling against the status quo.
Director: Peter McDonald
Writer: Peter McDonald
Starring: Andrew Bennett, Scott Graham and Michael McElhatton

This film was just middling for me.  There were some humorous moments throughout but I just wasn't overly impressed by the acting, direction, or the story. It was a pretty good film to start with, watching all these nominees in order. 

Raju
Writer-director Max Zähle compresses a feature’s worth of story into an emotionally and ethically impactful 24 minutes. German couple Jan and Sarah Fischer (Wotan Wilke Möhring and Julia Richter) travel all the way to Calcutta to adopt 4-year-old Raju (Krish Gupta). On their first day as a family, however, the boy disappears, and as they seek help from the police, the orphanage and an NGO that looks after missing children, it seems the city has swallowed him whole. As awful as the situation is, Jan’s investigation into the whereabouts of their new son uncovers a scenario even worse. Eschewing exposition, Zähle drops right into the action, a strategy that appeals to viewers’ sympathies viscerally rather than narratively. There’s not enough time to deal with all of the circumstance’s complicated emotions—the couple’s inevitable doubts about whether they’re fit for parenthood is given short shrift—but Zähle’s adroit structure strikes a powerful chord.
Directors: Max Zähle
Writer: Max Zähle and Florian Kuhn
Starring: Wotan Wilke Möhring, Julia Richter and Krish Gupta

After the humorous Pentecost to begin with, Raju feels like a punch in the stomach.  I believe this was the longest of the offerings and felt like it for sure, though not in any bad way.  The theater was pretty much silent in disbelief the entire film, as the wheels come off this adoption and the situation goes from bad to worse, to worse still.  A tough film to watch but really well made. 
 
The Shore
Previously nominated for screenwriting Oscars for In the Name of the Father and Hotel Rwanda, which he also directed, writer-director Terry George returns to the Academy Awards with this Northern Ireland-set drama, which he shot in the bay in front of his home with a cast and crew of friends and family. Indeed, this story about boyhood blood brothers Joe (Ciarán Hinds) and Paddy (Conleth Hill), who reunite after 25 years of misunderstanding and regret, is intimate in plot and style. A significant portion of their past is relayed in dialogue—a risky narrative strategy that works because Hinds is so good—and Paddy’s misinterpretation of Joe’s arrival results in funny yet tonally jarring comedy. But ultimately The Shore is as warm and comforting as a bear hug from an old friend.
Director: Terry George
Writer: Terry George
Starring: Ciarán Hinds, Conleth Hill, Kerry Condon and Maggi Cronin

I thought this was the best film of the night, just a bit better than Tuba Atlantic, though I would have been happy if either had won the award.  Oscar agreed and gave the statue to The Shore.  The film is beautifully shot, stars a favorite character actor of mine in Ciarin Hinds (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Road to Perdition, There Will Be Blood, Munich, Life During Wartime), and features a great writer/director.  Both this and Tuba Atlantic were seemingly sad tales that both end with surprising triumphs and happy endings.  Somehow the review above fails to mention the best part of the film, Maggie Cronin, the ex girlfriend and current wife to the 2 male leads.  She is the glue that holds everything together in this film and deserves the credit. 


Time Freak
In writer-director Andrew Bowler’s Time Freak, time travel has less in common with Back to the Future and the paradoxes of running into earlier versions of yourself than Groundhog Day and the possibilities of do-overs. Stillman (Michael Nathanson) has invented a time machine that doesn’t so much move him through the past as hit the rewind button. It remains unclear how his dream of visiting ancient Rome would work, but the point is moot since he’s hung up on visiting and revisiting yesterday to get it exactly right, from his frustrating exchange with an unhelpful drycleaner to a casual encounter with a girl he likes. The possibilities are endless, but Bowler’s tight script gets to the punch line before irrevocably boggling the mind.
Director: Andrew Bowler
Writer: Andrew Bowler
Starring: Michael Nathanson, John Conor Brooke and Emilea Wilson

The only American entry this year and it turned out to be pretty much garbage.  It's clear the writer/director has seen Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine, Groundhog Day, and a variety of similar titles way too many times as he steals the worst of their hackneyed plot points.  It was not clever in the least and the acting was pretty amateur.  Super disappointing for the only US entry, how was this even nominated? Easily the worst film of the night. 

Tuba Atlantic
No regional cinema strikes the exquisite balance between the dry humor and poignant pathos of grumpy old men quite like the Scandinavians. In Hallvar Witzø’s Tuba Atlantic, 70-year-old Oskar (Edvard Haegstad) finds out he has precisely six days to live. Young, blond Inger (Ingrid Viken) arrives, an Angel of Death assigned to his case by the local Jesus Club to help him die. “I can manage that fine myself,” he harrumphs. Still, she tags along as he wages a one-man genocide on the local seagull population and waits for the winds to shift so he can fire up a giant horn pointed at the Atlantic. He hasn’t spoken to his brother in 30 years, and he hopes to reach him all the way in New Jersey with the musical contraption they built together ages ago. Despite—or perhaps because of—the absurdity, one can’t help but be moved.
Director: Hallvar Witzø
Writer: Linn-Jeanethe Kyed
Starring: Edvard Haegstad, Terje Ranes and Ingrid Viken

Much like The Shore,  Tuba Atlantic examines the reasons why we lose touch with the people we love, why we let pride and guilt stand in the way.  A great triumph to end the night's offerings with.  The cranky old man, the love and methods of killing seagulls, and the crazy teen "Angel of Death" all work perfectly together to craft a portrait of a lonely old man determined to fulfill a promise made decades ago, his success is both sad and charming and left me feeling great as I walked out.