Cinema Hype

Swedish director Ingmar Bergman–not to be confused with Ingrid Bergman, who was way prettier–died today at the age of 89.

I have to say that Bergman is one of those directors that we’ve all heard of–”Oh, right, Ingmar Bergman,”–but that the general public seems to have missed. It’s easy to let that happen when everything’s in Swedish; those of us who haven’t been to either Sweden or film school tend, frankly, not to care very much. I, for one, have never seen an Ingmar Bergman film, though I’d be willing to bet they’re fantastic. I have no reason to believe otherwise.

Maybe this is all about the dichotomy between high and low cinema, or high and low culture? Between what an ambitious filmmaker wants to express through the medium of the motion picture, and what audiences want to see? Who knows, perhaps good old Ingmar was the Farrelly Brothers of Sweden in his day, though I doubt it. Maybe we think Swedish films are going to be all about fish and eternal winter. Maybe it’s just that we’re uncomfortable with movies that aren’t in our own language, though foreign films aren’t that uncommon. I just wonder why so few people seem to be unfamiliar with one of the most talented and successful filmmakers of the twentieth century.

I have a pressing question for the CH readership this fine Monday morning: what, exactly, is the appeal of Vince Vaughn?

I don’t get it. People love him. I mean, there was Swingers, but wasn’t that a good ten years ago now? And shouldn’t we expect a decent movie every once in awhile? Am I missing something? Is Old School really that great? Because all I’ve got is The Break-Up and his new Christmas movie, Fred Claus, which has been in trailers since last Christmas, and I’m thinking there must be something else going on here. Maybe I’m just the wrong demographic.

Befuddled, I’m telling you. Any input, readers?

As usual, the rules: The first person to comment with the character, actor, and movie that contains this quotation gets a special eyelash batting and a tailor-made Cinema Hype cheer, which might actually rhyme, even if it doesn’t make any sense.

“Being perfect is not about that scoreboard out there. It’s not about winning. It’s about you and your relationship with yourself, your family and your friends. Being perfect is about being able to look your friends in the eye and know that you didn’t let them down because you told them the truth. And that truth is you did everything you could. There wasn’t one more thing you could’ve done. Can you live in that moment as best you can, with clear eyes, and love in your heart, with joy in your heart? If you can do that, gentlemen - you’re perfect!”

Hint: If you know where to look, this one’s got a clue embedded. If you don’t, well, I can’t help you.

It’s not you, John; I’m
there for Janney, Walken,
and Bynes. I like them.

I’m sorry to say it, but I have to go back on an ancient and solemn vow. In my own defense, one never really knows about this kind of thing: at some point in my adolescence, I swore I’d never see another John Travolta movie on purpose. It’s not even the movies I’m avoiding. It’s him.

But what’s a girl to do? Avoid Hairspray, which has an otherwise-excellent cast and is getting stellar reviews? I can’t stay away. So, John, just know that this is a temporary reprieve, and you just thank Ms. Janney for being as awesome as she is.

We at CHHQ apologize (a little) for the constant Harry Potter chatter around these parts–we’d planned a Hairspray-themed post for today, if you must know–but this is just too good to pass up.

Turns out that despite the studio’s desire to maintain an all-British cast for the Harry Potter films, they’ve made an exception in the name of awesomeness: news broke today that Naomi Watts (born British but generally considered Australian) has signed on to play Narcissa Malfoy in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Now that’s making up for Helena Bonham Carter.

The big question remains: Will Watts’s Malfoy upstage Nicole Kidman’s Mrs. Coulter in the Battle of the Evil Blondes? We’ll see.

Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Narcissa Malfoy, Naomi Watts, Nicole Kidman, Mrs. Coulter, The Golden Compass, Evil Blondes

Well, it just goes to show what happens when a movie blogger goes camping and–gasp!–leaves her internet connection at home: Tammy Faye“>Tammy Faye Baker Messner passed away Friday, and I didn’t even know. Aside from being the ex-wife of televangelist/felon Jim Bakker and recording 25 gospel albums over the years, Tammy Faye also fascinated generations of aspiring cosmetics junkies, pushed for changed attitudes regarding AIDS in the 80s, spent a season on The Surreal Life, tussled with the IRS, and eventually turned into a kind of gay icon, as documented in the 2000 documentary The Eyes of Tammy Faye. She lived a full life, Tammy Faye did, and we’ll miss her and her clumpy eyelashes and her “I’m gonna survive NO MATTER WHAT” attitude. Here’s to Tammy Faye!

And yes, my brother and I did write songs about her to the tunes of Christmas carols when we were kids. Why do you ask?

Tammy Faye Bakker Messner, The Surreal Life

We at CHHQ realize that today is not the best day to be talking about film. After all, Monday may be the first day of the work week, but to millions of people, it’s just Day 3 of the end of Harry Potter. (Or, to be more correct–since we’re spoiler-free and haven’t even started the thing anyway–the end of the Harry Potter series. Excuse us.)

But we have a very important question to ask. After all, the Harry Potter books aren’t the entirety of the universe; there are now five whole films to choose from. So, lest we distract anybody from their Potter headspace:

What is your favorite Harry Potter movie, and why?

As usual, the rules: The first person to comment with the character, actor, and movie that contains this quotation gets a special eyelash batting and a tailor-made Cinema Hype cheer, which might actually rhyme, even if it doesn’t make any sense.

“‘Is that your bathing suit?’
‘Is that your overbite?’
‘One of you will be the drowning victim and the one will be our lifesaver.’
‘I’ll be the victim!’
‘All your life.’”

Hint: Chances are, that bathing suit is black.

Why the quick cuts
and bland CGI backdrops?
What are you hiding?

Last night at our 6 p.m. showing of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, we saw a good collection of trailers–a couple of kids’ movies, Vince Vaughn’s over-marketed Christmas project, and the current Hot Trailer, The Golden Compass. I’ve seen the Golden Compass trailer several times now, but I’ve been reluctant to write about it. The truth is, the trailer pretty much leaves me cold, no matter how much I want to like the movie.

Fortunately, I’ve come to the conclusion that the problem may lie in the construction of the trailer, and not in the movie itself.

Remember, a million and a half years ago now, the teaser trailer for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone? We got a camera panning over suburban London, a few street lights going out, and a cat sitting on the fence. An owl swooped down from the sky to deliver a letter. The address? “Mr. H. Potter, The Cupboard Under the Stairs, 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey.” That was it, and it was completely effective. Everybody knew what was about to happen.

The Golden Compass trailer takes the opposite tack: it’s a generalized look at the world of the film, with quick cuts of the dirigibles, Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig, witches flying around, and a plucky little girl demanding to go north and fight. We learn that she may be “the child.” Oh, and there are bears. The problem with this trailer is that it assures fans of the novel that all of the key elements will be there, but it doesn’t give anybody much of a sense of the story. It feels like a lack of confidence: if this film is that good, we don’t need to be reassured that there will, in fact, be armored polar bears. Better to set the movie apart as something polished and subtle than to lump it in with all of the other fantasy-adventure movies we see in theaters all the time. Do they not believe in the size and loyalty of Phillip Pullman’s fan base? (If so, I believe they’ll be surprise; the Harry Potter generation had to have something to read in between books.) Something simple, stylish, and mystical would have been a better choice if they want to establish themselves on the level of the Potter films.

I still have high hopes for the movie. After all, two minutes of clips does not a fictional world make.

The Golden Compass, trailers, Harry Potter, Phillip Pullman, Nicole Kidman

What is there to say about Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix? Come to think of it, what is there to say about any of the Harry Potter movies? I’m always torn about them: I like the idea of them, but somehow they never quite live up to my expectations. Essentially, I always forget that they are bound to be incomplete tellings of stories I already know. Things aren’t getting any easier, either–the plot keeps getting more complex and the cast of characters is officially enormous by the time we’ve hit number five. How is any director to cram all of those people and all of those events in without compressing them completely?

The answer is, he isn’t. Or at least, this director isn’t. HPOotP–as the film shall now officially be called around CHHQ–introduces a whole gaggle of new characters, and director David Yates gives all but the most important a moment of screen time and then moves on. Same with the story; HPOotP is the longest Harry Potter novel and the shortest Harry Potter movie, so you do the math on what gets cut. To be honest, though, the ruthless edit isn’t such a bad thing. The first half of the novel is entirely too long, and Harry is at the pinnacle of his fifteen-year-old obnoxious spell, and the movie audience escapes both of those scot-free. In fact, the movie turns out to be pretty efficient: it’s fast-paced but it squeezes in the most important emotional truths, and hits the high points in between. Any Harry Potter fan should be reasonably satisfied with this adaptation.

This installment of the Harry Potter series is nice because Yates doesn’t seem tied to some of the conventions of the previous four. There is no Quidditch in this movie, which probably irritated a lot of people, but how much flying around do we really need to see at this point? The Sorting Hat is gone, and the first-years seem to be nowhere in sight. We barely see Platform 9 3/4, but it’s okay. By this time, we know the routine. It’s time to move on to the meat of the story, and anyway, things around Hogwarts are changing. Best not to get too attached to the idylls of the first few films.

On the other hand, the climax of the film is the least inspiring segment. Much of the action is pretty spectacular, but this is one instance where an extra ten minutes would have been worth it. The story in HPOotP is about teamwork. It’s about faithfulness. Harry’s friends insist on going off to the final adventure of the novel with him, but end up doing a lot of hurrying up and waiting while Harry does most of the fighting. A better model might have been to give each of the Hogwarts kids a moment to shine, which would have reinforced the importance of Harry’s friends as backup. Instead, they just make concerned-looking hostages.

Aside from the nitty-gritty of the plot, half the fun of the Harry Potter movies is the casting–who’s playing who and how. The casting in this film, with one major exception, is spot-on. I have been skeptical about any director pulling off a convincing Dolores Umbridge, because the Umbridge in my head is animated–if you must know, she’s the crazy frog-monster chick from Monsters, Inc. stuffed into a series of pink suits and given a different haircut. I should never have doubted Imelda Staunton. She’s perfect: sticky-sweet and completely terrifying, all at once. And then there’s Luna Lovegood. I have to admit that I’m not sure the “picking random children out of the crowd” model of casting has worked out so well for the Harry Potter casting folks so far, but Evanna Lynch is, well, perfect. She looks perfect and she sounds perfect and she has the aimless but perceptive nature absolutely down. I spent half the movie watching her in the background, just because she was so consistently good. More Loony Lovegood, I say!

The only casting misstep in HPOotP is, unfortunately, kind of a big one. Or, to be specific, it will be later on. I see the logic behind choosing Helena Bonham Carter (crazy brunette? Check) to play Bellatrix Lestrange, but the film’s take on Bellatrix rubs me the wrong way from start to finish. There are so many other crazy British brunettes they could have chosen–why not Eva Green? She could have worn her everyday makeup and not changed a thing. Or maybe Rachel Weisz pretending to be something besides beautiful and charming? Someone glamorous and deliberately evil would have been far creepier than Bonham Carter’s straight-out-of-Azkaban crazy. I mean, the woman could at least wash her hair. Come on.

In all, HPOotP is a good installment in a series that keeps getting a little better each time. Yates has signed on for the sixth film, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and I expect him to do good things.

Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

I know that summer is a film critic’s high season. It’s only the middle of July, after all, and there are plenty of movies of all shapes and sizes just waiting for a certain teenaged wizard to take his broom and get out of the way. Summer movies are still very much the thing these days.

I have to admit, though, that I’m waiting for the summer boom and the autumn lull to play themselves out. I want it to be December 7 in movieland. Why? Atonement. On the Day That Will Live in Infamy, the film adaptation of Ian McEwan’s novel comes out in limited release, and I’m going to be there.

I’m not quite finished with the book yet–things still have the potential to go south, I suppose–but I’m calling Atonement out early as an Oscar contender. It’s just going to be so good, and I feel pretty comfortable saying that with practically no information on the movie itself. The thing is, what I do know about Atonement amounts to a bit of a perfect storm. Director Joe Wright is calling the shots, and say what you will about his 2005 Pride and Prejudice adaptation, but don’t call it ugly. The man has an eye for images and moments that’s bound to dovetail nicely with the visual detail of McEwan’s prose. The casting is a dream: I can’t think of a better Cecelia Tallis than Keira Knightley, and then we add the hunky-but-talented James McAvoy to the mix along with Romola Garai, Brenda Blethyn, and Vanessa Redgrave, and my mind is officially blown. The novel is full of painstakingly drawn characters plopped into the kind of scenery that just begs for a soaring score; plus, it’s a war movie, with all of the tragedy and triumph implied therein.

In short, it’s going to be good. I can barely conceive that it might be anything else.

If I get to the end of the book and change my mind, I’ll let you know. Until then, I’ll just be waiting.

I spent this weekend at my old summer camp. It was great–a memory down every trail and a story around every corner. The truth is, I love camp. I love swimming and boating and the knowledge that all you really have to do that day is have fun. I love quiet moments in the forest and rowdy meals with friends and s’mores after dark. I think more adults should go to camp. Wouldn’t that kind of good, clean fun be good for us all?

The film industry is no stranger to summer camp. So, in honor of a fine weekend spent in the mountains, CH staff presents Fantasy Film Festival: Where’s My Bug Spray? Edition.

Meatballs (1979): Classic.

The Parent Trap (1961) and The Parent Trap (1998): The original is great (or it was when I was eight), and this is a rare instance in which the re-make is just as good–probably because parts of the summer camp scenes are copied verbatim from the original.

Ernest Goes to Camp (1987): You know what I mean, Vern?

Addams Family Values (1993): aka Wednesday Addams Goes to Camp. Come on…I can tell you’re intrigued. Don’t lie.

Wet Hot American Summer (2001): For the grown-ups, just what we never knew we needed: a summer-camp movie spoof. With, admittedly, an awesome cast.

Now, don’t blame me if you find your bed short-sheeted tonight. I had nothing to do with it.

As usual, the rules: The first person to comment with the character, actor, and movie that contains this quotation gets a special eyelash batting and a tailor-made Cinema Hype cheer, which might actually rhyme, even if it doesn’t make any sense.

“‘I want to buy her some flowers. That’s what men do when they break a date.’
‘That’s not what men do. I know no men who do that.’”

Think you’ve got it? Take a guess. I dare you.

In other news, I win! Last week’s quotation was, apparently, a lateral-thinking exercise that didn’t quite take: it was from Transformers: The Movie, which all children of the 80s should know came out in 1986.

Ah, well. Better luck this week.

Anticlimactic:
Title-less monster movie
becomes Cloverfield?

Want to know how to pique the public’s interest about your movie? Don’t tell them the title. Make a creepy handi-cam trailer a la The Blair Witch Project, get them sucked in, then flash the release date and move on.

That’s what’s happening with the new J.J. Abrams-produced thriller, called–for the moment–Cloverfield. Now, the marketing on this movie isn’t half bad. People in the audience for Transformers, where the trailer aired, literally yelled out, “What’s the title?” Not bad, right?

But if you’re going to do that, why have a working title that sounds like it’s about Ferdinand?

Mary Martin may be the woman most associated with the story of Peter Pan (and rightly so; I was pretty enamored of her as a kid), but she certainly isn’t alone. For all its man-heaviness, Peter Pan–in all its literary and especially filmed incarnations–offers two distinctive and telling portraits of what it is to be a woman. In Wendy Darling and the fairy (pixie? I should know this) Tinkerbell, we have the two Victorian proto-women (Mother and Danger Personified, and what a choice that is) sitting side by side. Or so posits one writer at Film Experience as part of the Action Heroine Blogathon, which took place recently. Wendy and Tink aren’t the only broads swaggering around the blogroll over at AHB, but they’re a start; check out lots of people’s thoughts on the best and most bad-ass of women in film.

And don’t forget to check out the Haiku for Heroines, which makes a) my heart flutter with joy, and b) me jealous of the author’s mad haiku skillzzzzz. Haiku for everyone!