Cinema Hype

Happy holidays, CHers! I hope you’ve all been enjoying this festive time of year. We at CH headquarters have, which is obvious from the lack of postage. But hang on a little longer: we’ll be back after a New Year’s jaunt out of town. We’ve been watching plenty of movies. Promise. And oh, there will be Top 5s and Top 10s and silly casting news galore. Just sit tight! And have a happy New Year.

To keep things rolling, we’ll offer a special end-of-year Quotation Sensation. (Top-secret note to commenter Brydon: Your comment didn’t come through. Re-send, please!)

Here you go:

“What does this song mean? My whole life, I don’t know what this song means. I mean, ‘Should old acquaintance be forgot’? Does that mean that we should forget old acquaintances, or does it mean if we happened to forget them, we should remember them, which is not possible because we already forgot?”

Happy New Year!

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 win! I win! Quotation Sensation #52 was a departure from the live-action genre, and nobody guessed it (except commenter Brydon, who implied that he knew the answer and then failed to guess. Which is confusing). The answer was John Goodman in The Emperor’s New Groove. HA! No cheer this week!

And now for a very special holiday Quotation Sensation:

“‘God bless you!’
‘Thank you! I’ll pass that recommendation along.’”

Happy holidays!

I was talking yesterday with a friend about pirates. She’s reading Treasure Island and thinks it would be a great movie, but we agreed that, what with Johnny Depp swooning all over the big screen lately, the filmgoing public has probably had enough adventure on the high seas–any pirate movie in the next five years will either be a Pirates of the Caribbean knockoff or another Cutthroat Island, which is the reason nobody made pirate movies for most of the 90s.

Not four hours later, on the drive home from work, I changed my mind. There is one kind of pirate movie I will never oppose, and that is the kind starring a talking, animated cucumber, grape, and gourd, all dressed in pirate outfits and hanging around in lounge chairs. You guessed it (or, really, you probably didn’t unless you’re part of a very specific demographic): The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything! I love the Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything!

For those outside the animated-vegetable loop, let me clarify: The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything is an old segment from VeggieTales, the popular Christian kids’ videos. See here:

(Note: This clip is a good decade old; the technology and artistry no longer look like Lock ‘n Chase.)

The thing is, Sunday school fodder or not, TPWDDA are awesome. I don’t know the plot of the movie (the original song is totally non-religious, existing as part of a segment called “Silly Songs with Larry: The Part of the Show Where Larry Comes Out and Sings a Silly Song”), and I can’t say it much matters to me. I will hit the deck (chair) with these guys anytime. Who’s with me?

VeggieTales, The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything

I said recently that Atonement is a movie that works whether you’ve read the novel or not. The same, frankly, can’t really be said for The Golden Compass. Philip Pullman’s story is a weird one, full of the kinds of elements that earn mountains of bad reviews from those going into it cold (”Hey! Let’s have people’s souls take animal form and walk beside them! We’ll call them ‘daemons’! Good idea! Wanna go get a beer?”). It’s the hardest kind of story to adapt, full of tough-to-explain concepts and followed by legions of passionate (and picky) fans. So the studio did what must have made sense at the time: they did the best they could, watered down what didn’t translate easily, and marketed it to people who like The Lord of the Rings. The result is mixed, as they must have known it would be: too outlandish for mainstream critics, too diluted for fans of the book, but strangely entertaining nonetheless.

First off, is it weird to confess that the best character in this movie is a talking polar bear? I am confident that the armored bears featured in the trailers attracted plenty of people to the theaters; I’ve read the book, and I didn’t escape the “Ooh, BEARS!” impulse entirely. Thankfully, Iorek Byrnison, the featured bear (magnificently voiced by Ian McKellen) isn’t just a badass CGI sideshow; he’s actually the best-developed character in the film–a complete story of redemption hidden behind animated fur and some armor. Runner-up in the “Characters to love” category is Sam Elliott as incongruous cowboy/airship captain Lee Scoresby, who isn’t as well-developed but makes up for it with screen presence and a cool jackrabbit daemon. It’s strangely comforting to know that Scoresby will continue to have a major role in the next movie (The Subtle Knife, slated for 2009). Even newcomer Dakota Blue Richards does a good job as heroine Lyra Belacqua; she may eventually enroll in the Emma Watson School of Indignant, Fearless Stares, but for now she’s reasonably natural onscreen and makes a pretty good ruffian.

Less exciting is the use of the big-name cast members: Nicole Kidman is the obvious choice for the coolly villainous Mrs. Coulter, but her performance is surprisingly bland (or-can we be shallow for a moment?–maybe I was just distracted by whatever it is she’s done to her face). Daniel Craig is heavily billed in the trailers, but is mostly a set-up man for the next film–he’s fine, but he’s barely present so far, which kills any chance of building interesting relationships. This is the biggest problem with the movie as a whole, actually: even when the main points are right, there’s a lack of attention to character and relationship that’s troubling. Perhaps that’s what’s missing in Kidman’s performance–she doesn’t have the time to be complex. Similarly, the relationship between Lyra and Iorek goes from “hired gun” (hired paw?) to “lifelong friends” without much in between. The movie’s not that long; an extra two well-used minutes per character could have made all the difference.

That said, it’s an entertaining movie, with plenty of chasing, rescuing, and battling, and it does capture the main points and some of the spirit of the novel. I’ve already mentioned the bears and the cowboy airship captain, not to mention the gypsies (”Gyptians” in the parlance of the movie), the witches, the parallel universes, and the possible debate about the role of free will in government and religion. In that sense, it works–there’s lots to see, and the action moves quickly, which gives the clipped screenplay an extra measure of grace. It’s fun. And it’s just the beginning, as the ending makes abundantly clear. Stay tuned.

The Golden Compass, Golden Compass, Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Dakota Blue Richards, Sam Elliott, Iorek Byrnison, Lyra Belacqua, Phillip Pullman

This just in from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association:

Hello! Hola! Bonjour! Konichiwa! Merhaba! We realize that the winter solstice holidays have yet to arrive and that the real awards-film race is really a January affair. But we are the Hollywood foreign press! We interpret the goings and comings of the Hollywoodites for the benefit of the avid reading public back home! Or we cover the affairs of Vancouver (the Hollywood of the north) and Riga (the Hollywood of the Baltics) for the avid reading public in the Hollywood hills! You decide!

But…continuing on. We know that you, the American public, have not yet feasted from the table of fine filmic fare slated for the winter of 2008, and we are sympathetic to your plight. But we feel compelled to remind you: WE HAVE, thanks to the joy of early press screenings! NYAH, NYAH, NYAH. For the likes of our scritch-scratching pens and clip-clapping typewriters, no press junket is too exclusive, no screening too far ahead of the release date. For the rest of you, well…sorry. We have heard the brilliance of Aaron Sorkin’s Charlie Wilson’s War screenplay with our own ears. We have experienced Johnny Depp’s singing voice–like a waterfall of honey flowing over a cliff of diamonds–in stereo! And yes, we have witnessed the glory of your all-time favorite comic actors collaborating on Juno. We have, and you’ll just have to wait until it comes to the local cineplex. HA! (Not to rub it in your face, or anything. It’s just that we have to report to all the folks back home. You understand.)

As for Michael Clayton…yeah, we didn’t see that either.

For a full list of the nominations (and don’t worry; you haven’t heard the last of CH Golden Globe chatter), see here.

If you can’t wait, see here.

Golden Globes, Golden Globe nominations, HFPA, Hollywood Foreign Press Association, Aaron Sorkin, Charlie Wilson’s War, Sweeney Todd, Johnny Depp, Juno, Michael Clayton, George Clooney

Hey, you! Hollywood-itis got you down? Can’t handle another Christmas season full of The Santa Clause 3 and its minions? Does the plight of the WGA and its members make you want to curl into a ball in the corner (or could you just not care less, as long as your shows come back soon)?

Why not check out an alternative? Say…cinema that is truly independent, unaffiliated with The Man (unless YouTube is The Man, which: debatable), and often at the cutting edge of the creative impulse? This is rough time for big-screen movies, but it’s also a great time to seek out new talent, support filmmakers operating outside the studio system, and still get your movie fix.

To start, check out filmmaker and friend-of-the-blog (or, really, friend-of-the-blogger) Timothy Sloat and his collection of short films. Want a preview before you click alllll the way over to YouTube? Here’s Tim’s latest movie, Adopted, for your viewing pleasure:

Cool, no?

(Fun fact: The score to this film was derived from a recording of a single percussion concert recording made by Tim, then manipulated digitally. Even the crowd’s applause makes it in. Can you “spot” it? I dare you.)

For more filmic brilliance, check out the afore-linked YouTube page for Tim and his production company, Fidget Films. (If you like The Office, things that are funny, and/or have ever worked for, attended, or walked by a church, you have to watch his Church Office series. In a word: HEE!)

independent film, indie film, Tim Sloat, Adopted, YouTube

*

Regular readers of this blog will know that I’ve been waiting patiently for the movie of one of my favorite novels, Ian McEwan’s Atonement. I really have been impressively calm about the whole thing, don’t you all think? But. It came out in limited release on Friday, and I immediately risked hell and high water (and coming frighteningly close to missing the last BART train home) to go see Keira Knightley, James McAvoy, and director Joe Wright pull out their A games for Oscar season. A girl can only wait so long, you know?

It worked. The wonderful thing about this movie is that it will work for people who love the book and for people who don’t even know there’s a book. Screenwriter Christopher Hampton (for whom this is only one in a long list of successful book adaptations, and who sets his sights next on Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell) nails the details–things you didn’t even know you remembered until they appear onscreen–and it’s satisfying in that sense, but it also means that even without the influence of the novel, everything is perfectly detailed. It’s a rich movie in every way.

Also contributing to the feeling of lushness is director Wright, coming straight off of the 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice. Wright is a director for the senses: he loves to please the eye and the ear, and would probably be all over taste, smell, and touch components to his films if they were available. Here he plays with light and dark, with color and the lack of color, and with sound–the integration of foley-type sound into the score is ingenious–and silence, and the combined effect is almost overwhelming even as it is beautiful. Any novel should hope to be adapted with this kind of aesthetic sense.

Scriptwise, Atonement divides neatly into three sections; all are excellent, but the first is the most spectacular. Act I takes place over the course of one afternoon and evening among a gathering of family and friends, and everyone–McEwan, Wright, and the cast–seem to like it best. It has the most going on: the most interesting structure, the best set-up for the rest of the story, and the most potential for shots that are luxurious but not epic (i.e. beautiful without running the risk of cheesy wartime effects, ruined forever by Pearl Harbor and the like; thanks, guys!). Act I also shows off Saoirse Ronan, who gives a surprisingly complex performance as 13-year-old Briony Tallis, and who, frankly, steals much of the movie out from under Knightley and McAvoy, and also from the two other actors who share the role (Romola Garai and Vanessa Redgrave as Older Briony and Oldest Briony, respectively). After the first act, the rest of the story plays out in a more or less linear-ish fashion; it’s beautiful and heartbreaking and Wright pulls out some of his best stops to keep everything moving. Disappointment creeps in only at the very end–I won’t specify, except to say that the final plot reveal lacks a bit of the weight it deserves. Still, it’s lovingly rendered and any changes might have ended up in a much bigger travesty.

Atonement is one of those movies that’s able to walk the fence: it’s Oscar bait, for sure, but not the kind of Oscar bait nobody actually wants to see. Go for the beauty and the entertainment (wartime love story!); stay for the commentary on the state of fiction. Either way, it’s worth it.

* Yes, this photo’s been done. But really, have we gotten over the awesomeness of that dress? We have not. No apologies here.

Atonement, Keira Knightley, James McAvoy, Joe Wright, Saoirse Ronan, Ian McEwan, Atonement movie

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.

For this week:

“Oh, look. A golden-throated small-winged warbler. Just one more for exotic bird bingo. I am loving this.”

Think you’ve got it? Let me know!

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.

Congratulations to Brady on his Thanksgiving-themed win!

Next up:

“‘I don’t know what’s going on, but he has that Rodgers and Hammerstein look in his eyes.’
‘Is that bad?’

Go!
‘Not bad, but always expensive.’”