by Sam Juliano
Despite some lingering discomfort from a tooth extraction, I can say I felt so much better in general this past week, and was able to immerse myself in two theatrical productions and two films in theatres. I want to thank all those last week for their wonderful words of concern and support. Jets fans received a wake-up call this afternoon in Indianapolis, where they were eliminated from the football playoffs in the AFC title game. At the time of this writing the Vikings hold a 14-7 lead over New Orleans in the first quarter of the NFL championship game. (OK, the Saints have won in OT, so sorry Dan.) The Screen Actors Guild Awards – last night – went to Jeff Bridges, Sandra Bullock, Monique, Christoph Waltz and the cast of Inglourious Basterds. At Wonders in the Dark, Allan’s fabulous countdown is now well into the 60’s, and after it reaches the half-way point the quality-control will no doubt bring on soem glorious discourse. Dave Hicks’s noir countdown is well underway at Goodfellas, and of course Tony d’Ambra is busy with his promised bevy of noir reviews at FimsNoir.net.
On Thursday evening, Lucille, Broadway Bob and I treked over to the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) to see the widely-praised new entry in Sam Mendes’ “The Bridge Project”, Shakespeare’s As You Like It with Juliet Rylance and Christian Carmargo in fantastic form as Rosalind and Orando, and composer Mark Burnett a force of nature here with an unforgettable score. Beautiful scenery and lighting and a joyous final scene, varied sets and contemporary garb all bring this comedic masterpiece to life with a performance that won’t soon be forgotten. I can’t wait for the same company’s The Tempest back here at the Harvey Theatre in April.
On Friday, Brooklyn was again our destination, for an alternate part of a two play cycle running at a rather seedy little location on Metropolitan Avenue in the Greenpoint section called The Brick Theatre. A Brief History of Murder, written by Richard Lovejoy, is divided into two plays, “Victims” and “Detectives.” Lucille, Bob and I managed the former, which was a rather bizarre confection, a theatrical approximation of David Lynch’s “Twin Peaks” “Detectives” follows an intrpid private investigator and her colleagues as they try to track down the killer. The play reveals of the town of Sentinel, Oklahoma – where a series of grisly killings have occured – as its colorful inhabitants become tangles in horrific events beyond their control. This is occasionally lively, but quite an uneven and sometimes stomach-turning experience. As an experiment, it is often striking.
I saw two films theatrically this past week:
Fish Tank **** (Saturday night, Montclair Claridge Cinemas)
The Book of Eli *** (Monday night; Edgewater multiplex
FISH TANK is a bucolic, angry woman’s kitchen drama recalling British cinema in the 60’s, but its social realism does recall, if it’s not outright derivative of Ken Loach, the British director who launched this kind of work, and who crafted one sure masterpiece and several others that push close to that designation. FISH TANK also has some striking similarities to the work of the Dardennes, with the use of a magnifying glass to examine what is in this instance coming of age in a rather raw and hostile environment. The non-professional young star, Katie Jarvis extraordinary evokes love, anger, resilience, perspective and spunk in this winning formula, engineered by Andrea Arnold, a major force today in british cinema.
THE BOOK OF ELI, from the Hughes Brothers is a reasonably entertaining apocalyptic action drama, that embraces the Western shoot-em up, seek em out formula, and the results aren’t exactly arresting, but it’s a bit better than the generally-hostile reaction the film seems to have attracted, perhaps as a result of the film going in a direction too many others have done before. Some decent plot turns, and a nice deceit, not known until the end, as implausible as it may be. Impressively-shot.
A comprehensive survey of the blogosphere is offered:
At Films Noir.net, Tony d’Ambra is moving forward with a sensory piece set in Los Angeles after his recent review of a Nikkatsu Noir title from the Eclipse box, A Colt is My Passport:
Dave Hicks’s superlative Top 100 Noir Countdown is entering it’s second ten, with this excellent consideration of John Farrow’s The Big Clock:
Our dear Canadian friend, J.D. at Radiator Heaven has tosted WitD in his comprehensive and essential post on his “Favorite Blogs and Blog Posts of 2009” which includes a great number of the faithful here. Thanks J.D. Terrific post!:
John Greco, busy as ever at “Twenty Four Frames,” has a new review that looks like a must-read on Stuart Hagman’s 1970 The Strawberry Statement:
Troy Olson has one of his best movie round-ups ever at “Elusive as Robert Denby: The Life and Times of Troy” that includes Public Enemies, Police Adjective, Tokyo Sonata, and A Serious Man:
Dee Dee is posting some silent cinema reviews at her place “Darkness Into Light” including the most current one by Andrew Katsis on a turn-of-the-century Melies classic:
“Just Another Film Buff” continues with his high-octane examination of cinema, and his most recent stellar essay is on a 2009 Kiarostami film titled Shirin, a film that sadly I have not seen, but one I’ll seek out:
Craig Kennedy’s weekly “Watercooler” commences with a discussion of Avatar’s spectacular performance at the box-office:
David Schleicher’s newest post is an excellent review of the new Jeff Bridges film, Crazy Heart, which he mostly likes, but is no fan of Terry Gilliam’s Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassas:
Judy at “Movie Classics” has an excellent review of a Barbra Stanwyck-starring feature, directed by William Wellman up at her place:
Shubhajit has what appears to be a very fine review of an Indian title Clerk up at “Cinemascope” which I will soon access myself:
Samuel Wilson has a review up at “Mondo 70” which is a revisit of the Al Pacino Revolution. It looks like a must-read:
Daniel Getahun is examining upcoming films in 2010, and his latest post at “Getafilm” concentrates on documentaries. I must definitely check this out!:
Marilyn Ferdinand has a truly exceptional essay up on Ray’s God’s Little Acre (1958) that I’v eread, but need to comment on:
Pat at “Doodad Kind of Town” has her long-awaited 2009 film round-up posted:
Coffee Messiah, ever resourceful with all things inspirational, has a lovely poem up by Rainer Maria Rilke and a wonderful colage at his place:
Kevin Olson has a quartet of great capsules up at “Hugo Stiglitz Makes Movies” including The Limits of Control, Fantastic Mr. Fox, A Serious Man and The Hurt Locker:
Dorothy Porker has her SAG predictions up at “Inside the Gold.” Of course we now know the results:
At “The Aspect Ratio” Ari still has his colleague (and ours) Bob Clark headlining with his Best of the Decade list:
Andrew Wyatt has what appears to be a most-fascinating capsule up on his Rifftrax edition of 300 at “Gateway”:
Longman Oz, our friend from Ireland, has a terrific theatre review of a production in Dublin, at his place. I know I’ll be there soon:
One of the most prolific of bloggers, Stephen at Checking the Sausages, has a terrific animation month offering up at his place, a Japanese title, Whisper of the Heart:
Ed Howard, with a prolific week, has a superlative review up of Sergio Leone’s For A Few Dollars More at “Only the Cinema”:
T. S. at Screen Savour has a reaction piece up at his place on the Golden Globes, which is an essential access:
Jeffrey Goodman, who is a director himself, has been assembling a great series on the work of various filmmakers, and his latest post is on David Lynch:
The always-resourceful Film Doctor, a University professor of Film, defies teh majority with an excellent essay on Legion:
Jason Bellamy has some delightful biographical information up at The Cooler in a post titled, “Let’s Get Kreative”:
Qalandar is still posting the best political stuff out there, especially Indian politics:
Tony Dayoub has something completely new up at “Cinema Viewfinder”: (check it out!)
Jon Lanthier has an amazing Slant review up on Fellini’s 8 1/2 on blu-ray at his place:
Adam Zanzie has his Top 50 of the Century up and it’s definitely worth a look!!!:
At “Cinema Styles” Greg Ferrara has what appears to be a terrific piece up on Scorsese’s Alice Dosen’t Live Here Anymore:
Rick Olson has an important post up on film preservation at his place which also acknowledges Marilyn Ferdinand and Greg Ferrara, at “Coosa Creek Cinema.”:
At “Tractor Facts” Fox is back with a most-interesting post titles “DVD Big Fan”:
and finally there’s always my good friend Kaleem Hasan, whose ‘Satyamshot’ is the place to be for Indian film and culture:
So how did your week go?
Sam, Thanks for the link.
I liked Fish Tank too. It had an economy of script we rarely get to see. And for once, a coming of age drama where politics plays a part.
Cheers!
Indeed JAFB! That’s an excellent point there about ‘politics’ being part of the mix in FISH TANK. I like the film quite a bit, though it’s clear that Ken Loach is Ms. Arnold’s model.
Glad to see you’re feeling much better Sam and more than a little relieved you liked Fish Tank as much as I did. I get a little self conscious when I relentlessly pump a movie.
Absolutely nothing came out of interest to me this weekend so I took another opportunity to stay away from the theater and focus on other happenings in the film world.
Thanks Craig. I am really only feeling better now as I type this. I had a tough morning, as an infection was detected under my gum, after my dentist insisted for weeks there wasn’t a problem. So, I have had an infection in my mouth for two weeks, and that’s what gave me some excrutiating pain. The gum has been cut, bled and stitched, and I am now on anti-biotics. All the fevers I had last week were a result of this mis-diagnosis.
Glad indeed that we agree on FISH TANK. It wasn’t terribly original, but so well crafted and acted, and as JAFB mentioned, politically relevant too. I would have liked to see the Techine film, but I just couldn’t work it in.
Sam, thanks so much for the link. Next up in the series are Abel Ferrara and Jim Jarmusch. I’m really enjoying them. Both catching up with some things I’ve never seen before and positioning others I’ve always liked.
So glad to hear you’re feeling better and can’t wait to see FISH TANK as soon as I have the opportunity.
Hey Jeffrey! Your Lynch and di Palma essys were superlative, so I must say I’m looking forward to the Jarmusch and Ferrara, though unlike a number of bloggers I am no fan of THE LIMITS OF CONTROL. But I’ll be looking forward to your numerical list.
Thanks for the kind words, and FISH TANK by the way is now available on a Region 2 DVD from Artificial Eye, which I have since ordered.
Thanks, Sam! That’s so nice of you to say. THE LIMITS OF CONTROL I still have to see before writing the piece. I have no idea yet where I’ll fall on that one.
First off, thanks for the screeners you sent my way Sam. I’ve had the chance to watch one thus far and Tricia sounds interested in watching a couple others with me.
Call me a naive Oregonian, but I just visited the A BRIEF HISTORY OF MURDER website and noticed that it contains “graphic nudity and gore,” two things which I’ve never yet experienced in a play-going experience. Sounds interesting, to say the least.
I enjoyed watching the football games today — both were entertaining and exciting. Too bad about your Jets, Sam, but Manning could not be stopped today. Could we have both teams possibly score 100 points in the Super Bowl with the subpar defenses for both teams? Should be an exciting game.
My wife and I cleaned the DVR of our backlog of TV shows (the late season shows are all starting up around right now) and other than that, my wife was sick, so I ceded control of the main TV to her while I worked on a long-forgotten project (my arcade machine…almost there).
I continued my viewing of 2009 films, as is seen in the post you graciously linked to.
A SERIOUS MAN – ***1/2
TOKYO SONATA – ****
POLICE, ADJECTIVE – ****1/2
And that was about it — it actually turned out to be a busy week both at home and work and so three films was all I could fit in. I have 10 to go before I want to do a review of the year…but I’m starting to burn out and want to get back to some movies from some other year (damn OCD/completist nature)
Glad you are getting to the screeners Troy!
“Call me a naive Oregonian, but I just visited the A BRIEF HISTORY OF MURDER website and noticed that it contains “graphic nudity and gore,” two things which I’ve never yet experienced in a play-going experience. Sounds interesting, to say the least.”
Well Troy, there was full-frontal male and female nudity in this production, and some stomach-churning gore. This was one of those “anything goes” stagings, and the author clearly favored some compelling Lynchian context here. Seeing this particular play in this rather seedy neighborhood in a dumpy building was an experience I won’t soon forget, that’s for sure! Ha!
OCD eh? Tell me about it. Thousands of DVDs, a number of which won’t ever get watched or re-watched is the trademark characteristic of this disease on my end!
Read your great capsules of course, and was thrilled to hear what you thought of TOKYO SONATA and POLICE ADJECTIVE, two films that made my own Top 10 list of 2009. Your prolific viewing (and writing) as of late has been somewhat of an amazing feat!
And yes, Manning is unstoppable. I would think the Colts would be the probable winners, but these ar eboth great teams and it can certainly go either way. The Jets had their chance in yesterday’s game and let it slip by.
Hey Sam. As always thanks for the plug.
Last week I went back to the future and watched two current releases at the cinema. My wife chose them, so it was popular fare 🙂
The first was the George Clooney vehicle, Up in the Air, from Juno director, Jason Reitman. Even my wife was disappointed. This movie epitomizes what is wrong with Hollywood movies, and the current state of mainstream film criticism. Local reviewers gave it 4 or 4.5 out of 5, and I was flabbergasted to see it has reached 90pct on Rotten Tomatoes (wish I had had some to throw at the screen). This movie is as cliched as it is banal – says absolutely nothing of substance any better than has not been said before in countless movies. While Clooney on auto-pilot as a job termination honcho who lives on planes and in airport hotels, dominates a weak cast, even he can’t save the corny screenplay. The direction is pedestrian with no tension or imagination, and the cinematography is simple point and shoot. The laughs are labored and come only in bursts as a desperate attempt to get some value from the money blown on the ticket. There was the potential for some substance here with the all the jobs that have been blown in the past 18 months from the GFC, but it seems all the makers were interested in was a cheap morality play.
Corn and Clooney is a neat segue to Steven Soderbergh’s quirky The Informant starring Mat Damon as a 90s manic-depressive corn extract executive, who blows opens the global corn fructose cartel. Clooney has Executive Producer billing. Damon always delivers an interesting performance, and is well supported by a solid supporting cast. I was particularly smitten by Melanie Lynskey as Damon’s wife. A competent screenplay plays for whimsy and is engaging, but ultimately the whole affair is flat with more froth than substance. By the end you are no closer to an understanding of Damon’s protagonist than at the start.
Tony, this superlative analysis of these two films is music to my ears, if you haven’t already gathered from my sidebar star ratings. UP IN THE AIR is one of the most overrated movies in years, and i agree this is hokum, with pedestrian direction and ill-times humor. (I loved when you say this: “The laughs are labored and come only in bursts as a desperate attempt to get some value from the money blown on the ticket.” hahahahahahaha!!!!! How true, Tony, how true!) Too bad your wife had a lousy time too, but this is how I saw this film too. It does speak unfavorably about the dire state of film criticism and main stream cinema.
I didn’t care much for THE INFORMANT either, but your final sentences pretty much are in syche with the way I feel. I also concur with you on Damon and Lynsky, who are excellent. Soderberg has an interesting premise here, but he didn’t quite pull it off.
These are tremendous reviews here Tony!
Thanks so much for the mention, Sam.
I used the word ‘rapturous’ in my latest review. Where do I send the royalties?
Stephen, you are Numero Uno, Ace in the Hole if you used ‘rapturous.’ Now you are really talking my language! LOL. Thanks.
Sam,
Thanks for the link and the comprehensive survey of the film blogosphere. Glad to hear that you are feeling better. I also had mixed feelings about The Book of Eli, where the apocalyptic western goes to Bible class.
I like that “goes Bible class.” Ha! It wasn’t a film to include on any great lists that’s for sure, but it was modestly entertaining and innocuous enough, methinks. Thanks for the kind words Film Dr.
Glad you are feeling better, Sam, and hope the toothache is soon gone too. Thanks very much for the mention and for putting together all the links. Interested to hear that you saw ‘As You Like It’ in such a wonderful production – my family is going on holiday to a village near Stratford on Avon this summer and we are hoping to see the RSC production of the same play. I’ve mainly been reading ‘Les Miserables’ this week – have recorded the movie with Fredric March as Valjean, but I haven’t got round to watching it yet.
Judy, thank you. Well as I mentioned above to Craig, I only found out this morning that the “toothache” from the extracted tooth area was actually coming from an infection under my gum, and a flabbergasted dentist had to lance the area, suck it out and prescribe antibiotics for me. I have been with the infection now for two weeks, and the pain was often excrutiating.
LES MISERABLES is the greatest novel I have ever read in my entire life, and it was practically a life-changing experience in a cultural and spiritual sense. Whenever I hear that someone has read it I get this inner warmth, so to speak. The Bernard (French) version is of course the best film adaptation, though the 1936 Hollywood version with Frederic March and Charles Laughton is also very good.
I’d love to hear your reaction to that RSC production of AS YOU LIKE IT. On my end, we have the Mendes THE TEMPEST to follow in April, which is another entry in ‘The Bridge Project.’
Thanks again, my very good friend.
Thanks, Sam – I’ve had trouble with teeth in the last year or two (fine at the moment, though) so can sympathise with that – sounds horrible and I hope the antibiotics clear it up soon. I’ve got a long way to go with ‘Les Miserables’ but can already agree with you on its greatness.
I was pleased to see Fish Tank get a good review. Obviously it’s nothing new from British Cinema, but the performances are just spot on. Katie Jarvis gives easily one of the top performances of the year and had the film been released just a bit earlier, I think it could have garnered a few nominations (its easily better than Sandra Bullock’s three atrocious performances). Also Micheal Fassbender is fantastic and proved, with the addition of Hunger and Inglourious Basterds, that he may very well be the most exciting young actor working today. I didn’t think Fish Tank was perfect but the acting was phenomenal and the gritty style of direction was effective enough to garner a spot on my top 25 of 2009 list.
Book of Eli is not one I’ve seen yet, and am hesitant to pursue (especially with the Hughes Brothers’ recent films). But I’ve always thought that Gary Oldman was one of the greatest actors of his generation and that Menace II Society (the first film by the Hughes Brothers) was an underrated masterpiece. Your review is pretty close to the general consensus of film critics.
Not a great weekend for films, but what can you do, it’s award season.
“But I’ve always thought that Gary Oldman was one of the greatest actors of his generation…”
For me it was The Dark Knight in which he impressed me the most, so understated and so convincing. He acted the rest of the cast under the table.
Thanks so much Anu, for that splendid response in every way!
Fassbender is indeed one of the best of his generation and FISH TANK is further proof. Yeah, my minor issues with the film was that it emulated a style, perfected by the great Ken Loach, and realistic British cinema of that period, but as you rightly note it’s impeccably made and Ms. Jarvis is fantastic. And yeah, she runs circles around the likes of Sandra Bullock on her best day! Ha!!!
I am no fan of the Hughes Brothers, so finding THE BOOK OF ELI tolerable was a major surprise. You could certainly do far worse than this.
Thanks again Anu!
Wow, you’ve been through the grinder this past week. Glad to hear all is going well.
Haven’t seen anything you wrote about, but all sound interesting, especially the play.
Cheers!
Thanks Michael. Yes, it’s been a bad period, but hopefully I can now move forward. The old adage that you “have nothing without you’re health” is so true. As far as the first play, the Shakespeare at BAM, that was extremely worthwhile, and I do plan to review it.
Thanks so much.
Glad to hear you doing better, Sam and thanks for the plug.
Yesterday we saw The Lovely Bones (****) which I know one of the complaints on this film has been too much CGI and while I tend to agree id did not hurt the film. I thought the ending was a bit weak but overall a very good film. At home, I watched Fritz Lang’s “While the City Sleeps” (***), one of two newspaper themed films I saw this weekend. Not quite in the class of Lang’s better works but decent. The other newspaper film was “Dateline U.S.A.” (***) with Bogart in his first role after “The African Queen.” Another decent film with good 1950’s background atmosphere of what the newspaper industry was like at the time. Also watched the Laurel & Hardy short “Tit for Tat” (****) one of their classics and finally a 2008 film called T”he Other Man,” directed by Richard Eyre (**1/2). The film starts off with a good premise but ends up a dud of a firecracker. Upon closer examination there are too many holes and not enough spice in a film that is suppose to be erotically charged,
On the book front, I am listening to an audio CD of “Presidential Courage” by Michael Beschloss.
John: Thanks for the kind words, and I’m happy to learn that you and your wife liked THE LOVELY BONES, which I believe has received undeserved pans by a number of the better critics. I continue to believe that Jackson has been closely scrutinized since KING KONG as a result of some backlash after his LOTR Oscar domination. The CGI in THE LOVELY BONES may have been excessive, but it was this aspect of the film that was most interesting. I agree that the ending was weak, but thought there were a number of moving moments before that (as you basically note here yourself). Ms. Ronan was excellent, and Stanly Tucci in a thankless role was eerily effective.
I am pretty much with you on that Lang film, which I’d give teh same rating to, and can’t much disagree with you on DATELINE U.S.A. either. TIT FOR TAT is a delightful classic which never dates, but I haven’t seen that Eyre film. Interesting you mention Eyre here John, as he directed the opera CARMEN (Metropolitan) that I saw last week. Eyre also directed the moving film IRIS with Jim Broadbent and Judi Dench.
The Beschloss book sounds most interesting.
As always John, thanks for the excellent round-up.
IRIS was a good film which we happen to see on a trip to NYC. I believe it was playing at the Loew’s Village VII at the time.
Big fan of Fish Tank, Sam, as I mentionned here last week. In both Red Road and this film, I really admire how Ms. Arnold can be so unflinching in her bleak and gritty depictions of council flat life, whilst building up a complex and challenging profile of her female protagonists and finding a genuine sense of compassion and dignity underneath all of the ugly realism.
Thanks also for the plug!
Superlative capsule assessment of the film there Longman! As I stated in other responses here, I think Mr. Arnold followed in the tradition of British socialist cinema, a raw and uncompromising portrait of the struggling lower classes, who are still blessed with resiliency. Ms. Jarvis is remarkable.
Thanks, as always Sam, for the shout-out. I was surprised at your favorable review for ELI. As you pointed out, it’s been soundly trashed by most of the major critics. I do like Denzel and post-apocalyptic films so I may have to give this one a chance at some point.
Hey J.D.! Again I want to thank you for your incredible red-carpet treatment at Radiator Heaven. We won’t forget that. As far as ELI, I don’t say it’s anything great, but it was reasonably good as entertainment, and I thought there were a few original touches. You could do a lot worse methinks. Thanks again!
Thanks for your condolences, Sam. I am still, along with millions of other Vikings fans, in a state of shock and bewilderment about how that game was lost last night. Three times in my lifetime have they reached the NFC title game, and three times have they lost in heartbreaking fashion. It was only Favre’s addition to the team last summer that made any of us believe we could have a championship season, and now, with all of the pieces in place and no title to speak of, I’m afraid a number of us have lost hope forever. We have gone 47 seasons as a franchise and never won a Super Bowl. Simply stunning with the amount of talent on this team over the last 15 years.
Football aside, I’m glad to hear you are feeling better and are back on the cinema/theater beat in your neighborhood. I’m highly anticipating Fish Tank arriving here in March.
Dan, my deepest condolences. The Vikes had that game won more than once and couldn’t close the deal. I was not overly impressed with New Orleans (nor with the defenses of either team in fact) so I doubt that the Saints will be able to defeat the Indianapolis Colts. I know the Vikes have never gone all the way, and Minny fans are long-suffering. I remember when I was young there were those teams with Page and Mean Joe Greane (he played for the Vikes, no?) their defense was unstoppable. But you are right. They have squandered talent, and certainly should not have lost yesterday.
Thanks for the kind words, and I’m sure FISH TANK will be with you soon enough.
Thanks for the shout-out, Sam. As usual, you are exceptionally gracious to all of us in film blogland. I just want to note that while Aldo Ray is in God’s Little Acre, it was directed by Anthony Mann. It kind of looks like you’re saying Nicholas Ray directed it.
Not too much movie action this week, though I got thoroughly caught up in a little feature film about a community theatre group called Bigger than the Sky (2005). Patty Duke and John Corbett were about the biggest names in the cast, the story took a predictable turn but in an unpredictable way, and I just really fell for it. The highlight of the week was seeing a theatrical realization of several paintings by Edward Hopper in The (edward) HOPPER Project. Same sort of concept as Sunday in the Park with George, but more like short stories and sketches. Really good work by a young company in town.
Marilyn, I blundered there. I was actually thinking that it was Ray’s film, not Mann’s. Senility is creeping along! Ha!
That Hopper ‘theatrical realization’ sounds utterly awesome!!!! Now that’s excellent employment of your time and energy, a thousand times better than visiting the local multiplex. I love Hopper’s work too. I never realized that Patty Duke and John Corbett were still acting at this late stage, but I would LOVE to see BIGGER THAN THE SKY. It makes me think of Arcand’s JESUS OF MONTREAL and Christopher Guest’s WAITING FOR GUFFMAN.
Thanks for the lovely words Marilyn.
Thanks Sam for the mention. And great to know that you are feeling far better now than when you were writing ‘Monday Morning Diary’ last week. Hope henceforth your health curve keeps shooting upwards 🙂
Watched 2 movies last week – Hunger, which I liked (as expected, I guess) & a mainstream Hindi movie (entertainer) called 3 Idiots.
And I’ve finished the book Mystic River, I must say what I compelling read it was. Though I’ve watched the movie, I still wondered at nearly every page of the book how the hell can someone manage to adapt this book to scree. So I guess I’ll have to revisit the wonderful movie by Clint Eastwood (it has anyway been sometime since I last watched it).
Tomorrow (26t January) happens to be a national holiday in India. It was the day when ‘Constitution of India’ was adopted, and India officially became a republic. So its celebrated as Republic Day with parades & other programmes. It’ll be a lazy day at office for me… something rare these days.
By the way, next week I’m planning to visit the Sundarbans. It might be the world’s largest delta, and a Unesco world heritage site. But what’s more important is that this dense mangrove forest is home to the legendary Royal Bengal Tigers. So hoping that nothing drastically unfortunate occurs in the meantime, I’ll hopefully be reporting my experience there in the next edition of your Monday Morning Diary.
By the way, next week I’m planning to visit the Sundarbans. It might be the world’s largest delta, and a Unesco world heritage site. But what’s more important is that this dense mangrove forest is home to the legendary Royal Bengal Tigers. So hoping that nothing drastically unfortunate occurs in the meantime, I’ll hopefully be reporting my experience there in the next edition of your Monday Morning Diary.”
Shubhajit!!! I would love to hear this report, as well as how this big ‘Independence Day’ goes down. I appreciate learning as much as possible about your culture, which is probably not so different in a general working day sense.
MYSTIC RIVER is one of Eastwood’s best films from his recent long run, and Lehane’s novel is of course immensely popular, as is SHUTTER ISLAND. But I agree it’s always a good idea to re-examine the book after seeing the film.
I haven’t seen that Hindi film unfortunately.
Thanks so much for the exceedingly kind words
Thanks for the shout-out, Sam, as usual. But that film diary entry on 300 isn’t mine. That’s my good friend Chris, who ocassionally contributes to the blog. Just thought credit should go where it is due.
Ha! Sorry about that Andrew. You are an honest guy! I do see you have some new stuff up there, which I will soon be checking.
Now, tooth discomfort on top of everything else. Is it possible you may have something else brewing? I hope you get some kind of a break soon, you’ve really hit a bad stretch.
I saw “The Book of Eli” and like you, didn’t find it all that bad. I think the excessive number of apocalyptic movies as of late gave this little chance to impress. Some orginal ideas were on display.
Too bad about the Jets, but they had a great year anyway.
Joe, I really thought they had it when they went up 17-6. But then they lost the killer instinct, and let the Colts score that TD before halftime, which revitalized them.
Thanks Joe, your expression ‘something brewing’ is exactly what I just said to Peter to confirm it. Yes, it’s been a very bad run, but hopefully there’s some light now.
I think you sized up the situation with THE BOOK OF ELI perfectly, and I share your sentiments.
Sam, Sue and I are hoping you are feeling better. I hope you resolved that issue with the dentist as I know well how painful a mouth ache is. I doubt your pain is coming from an extracted tooth area.
I see the Producer’s Guild went with “The Hurt Locker” as best film, meaning “Avatar” is no longer a sure thing. I think it’s three-way race.
We had a chance to see “Fish Tank” over at Montclair this past weekend, but we had too much going on. Maybe, this coming weekend.
Thanks Peter. As I explained further up this thread, there most assuredly WAS something brewing, and that’s what really felled me as of late. FINALLY, thing snow appear to be under control.
Yep THE HURT LOCKER prevailed at the PGA, meaning it is indeed a three-way race with UP IN THE AIR and AVATAR at the Oscars.
Check out FISH TANK. I think you’ll be most impressed. Regards to Sue.
Most of my viewing has remained re-watching favorite noirs for positioning in the countdown, and this means that I have watched some all-time greats within in the last week.
I also caught up on two films based on the recommendation of the blogger “Doniphon” who runs the excellent The Long Voyage blog. He is counting down his favorite films of the decade. His two most recent pieces dealt with Paul Verhoeven’s BLACK BOOK and Brian De Palma’s THE BLACK DAHLIA. Black Book is one that I had seen parts of, but not everything in one full setting. I’m glad that I finally did, because it’s an outstanding film. As far as similar films, I don’t think it’s quite as good as FLAME & CITRON, but it’s still an entertaining WWII thriller.
THE BLACK DAHLIA, meanwhile, I had avoided due to its absolutely horrendous reviews… I mean, they were awful. I saw a few critics praise it — mainly Jeffrey Anderson at Combustible Celluloid, which I think is a great movie review web site — but everyone else was unmerciful. Surprisingly, I enjoyed it. I thought in parts it had a certain “Twin Peaks” quality to it, as I said in comments at another site. There obvious deficiencies that have been called up by almost every reviewer, but I found it to be better than the reviews had led me to believe. And there are some sequences that are outstanding, such as the discovery of the Dahlia’s body. I’m sure almost everyone else that reads this will disagree on my assessment, but I’m OK with that. Is it a masterpiece? No, but I truly did like it.
As for books, I’ve started reading “A World Undone” by G.J. Meyer, which is about World War I. It’s a war that I know almost nothing about, so everything in it is interesting to me.
Thanks again for the link, Sam, and hope you feel back to 100% very soon!
Thanks Dave for the excellent round-up!
It’s understandable that you’d want to be best prepared for the noir coundown, and frankly I’d be doing the same thing if I had that massive project ongoing. It will be great to see the countdown proceed further to the point where some of the masterpieces will begin to appear.
I’ll have to check out Doniphon’s place. I wasn’t a big fan of BLACK BOOK, (though I did admire Candice Van Houten’s performance) not THE BLACK DAHLIA, but I am always open for re-viewing. I remember the fascinating discussion on BLACK BOOK on the TOERRIFIC thread months back, and I know di Palma seems to work better on the second go-round.
World War 1 is a fascinating period, and I only just recently was reading more on it. Of course THE GREAT WAR is the definitive mini-series on it, and it’s frankly essential.
Thanks again for the great round-up, and the continuing excellence of the noir countdown.
An extra day off and some crazy weather made this a great movie-viewing weekend for me.
In the theaters I saw:
CRAZY HEART — ***1/2 (further review at my place)
THE LOVELY BONES — *** (not nearly as bad as I thought it would be…completely engrossing but still very problematic, though I’m not sure if it’s Jackson’s excess to blame or the clunky source material)
On DVD:
AMREEKA — **** Totally endearing slice-o’-life. Sam, you were right on the money about this one.
GLENGARRY GLENROSS — ***1/2 (this was a re-watch after many years) — Baldwin is still a hoot…wish there had been more of him and less of Pacino.
THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE ACHMED — *** (more about that on Allan’s post)
THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT — *** — great little Brit noir with some slow parts but all together entertaining (thanks, Sam!)
Also had a great meal at Caffe Aldo Lamberti’s Saturday night in Cherry Hill, NJ before seeing CRAZY HEART. A classic place for sure.
Hope to get a book review up of Margaret Atwood’s YEAR OF THE FLOOD later this week. I’ve got about 50 pages to go.
Otherwise…here’s to Wednesday night’s STATE OF THE UNION!
Cheers, everyone!
Well David, I’ve seen your excellent CRAZY HEART review – which I generally agree with – and am surprised but rather pleased at your reaction to THE LOVELY BONES, which I continue to believe received some unfair harshness in the critical ranks. I’ll agree there are some flaws, but in the end this is an extraordinarily moving film. I rated it with 4 of 5 myself, but your position david is fair enough.
Thrilled to hear what you thought of AMREEKA, which was delightful. Loved the White Castle deceit, especially!
GLENGARY has more and more taken on classic status, and of course PRINCE ACHMED is a silent classic. I will l
look again at your comment at Allan’s review.
Caffe Aldo Lambertis??? Now THAT sounds like my kind of place!!!
I will be looking for your review of YEAR OF THE FLOOD!
Let’s hope the address goes well. We need something to cheer!
Watched a marathon of the BBC comedy show KEEPING UP APPEARANCES that was showing on one of PBS stations on Cable. We Americans have a lot to learn about TV comedy after sitting through about a half dozen episodes of this deliriously wonderful series. Watched the SAG Awards Saturday and was bored to tears. More predictability could NOT have been on display with that awards show… Bridges, Monique, Christoph Waltz. Yadda Yadda Yadda….
That sounds like a great BBC show Dennis!
And the SAG awards would seem to confirm what we already know, and that is that Bridges, Bullock, Monique and Waltz are in at the Oscars, and not a single surprise is likely.
CALL ME… I TRIED CALLING YOU… ONCE AGAIN, FIVE PEOPLE IN THE HOUSE AND NOBODY CAN PICK UP…. GOD! ANYWAY, CALL ME BACK ABOUT TOMORROW…..
There are SEVEN people in this house dennis, not five.
Hi! Sam Juliano, Allan, and WitD readers,
Sam Juliano, I ‘am so happy to read that you are on the road to …recovery.
Sam, very interesting films that you watched this week and the place that you plan to visit shortly…sounds as if it’s going to be interesting too!
…Thanks, for mentioning the happenings on my blog… as usual and writer Andrew Katsis’ writings in particular…
…Here Goes The Films That I Checked Out or Plan to Watch for the First Time: I ‘am quite sure that you haven’t heard this word yet, but thanks, for the copy of Andrei Tarkovsky’s Solaris (Which along with the Peter Watkins’ Edvard Munch (Whom I must admit I’am not familiar with yet, (That’s Watkins’ not Munch, that I’am not familiar with yet,) but who film I plan to watch later in the week too.)
I also purchased the last two volumes of Hammer Film Noir Double Feature boxsets Volume 6 and 7 … The stories are fatalistic in most instances, than their “American cousins”…The Titles in the sets are “The Unholy Four,” “A Race For Life,” “The Black Glove,” and “The Deadly Game.”
I also watched…”Ratatouille, ” “Beat The Devil,” “Open Secret,” “The Wrong Man,” on YouTube (one of Hitchcock’s “darkest” film which by many fan of film noir think fit into the category of a film noir.) the fatalistic “Beyond A Reasonable Doubt,” (on TCM and in its entirety.) and “In The Valley of Elah.”
Literature: That I Added To the Bookshelf :
Books on my (book) shelf and they are Due to the fact, that I “hang” out with a literary crowd (In most instances, just listening, observing and reading.)
1. One to Many Blows Too the Head by Eric Beetner and J.B.Kohl, still lead on the shelf…
2. Just Added…The Ghost and Mrs. McClure by Alice Kimberly, I’am searching for other titles…
Music… No Comment…
Food … Hmmm…a very light touch…as usual.
Sports… No Comment…
Politics…No Comment…
Sam Juliano, I guess that about wrap up my week in review for this week.
Take care!
DeeDee 😉
Hello Dee Dee!!! Yesterday I relapsed again, with that gum infection flairing up. From here on in I won’t be presumptuous, and will take it one day at a time. I was not on the PC at all yeterday, visiting the dentist for another “draining” and laying down in bed.
Glad to hear you are getting around to both SOLARIS and EDVARD MUNCH. I am a fan of both, especially the latter.
I am also a big fan of Hammer horror, and that sounds like an excellent purchase there. My favorites in the series are THE HORROR OF DRACULA, PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES, THE DEVILS RIDES OUT and VAMPIRE CIRCUS. But your lot there is very fine too. Also, that’s a distinguished grouping there of the films you watched this week (RATATOUILLE, THE WRONG MAN, etc.) as well as BEYOND A REASINABLE DOUBT.
I must admit I am eager to read some of the Bettner volume, and will do so when I am closer to 100%. I’m not surprised it’s at the front of the line, so to speak, for you!
I never heard of THE GHOST AND MRS. MC CLURE, but it sounds intriguing.
Thanks again for the comprehensive round-up my very good friend.
Hi Sam, okay Fish Tank is going on my list to see when it finds its way to the far reaches of the southern gulf islands on the west coast Canada. Thank you for the all the great links. I think I will take the rest of the week to poke around your offerings:) Glad you are feeling better. Terrill
Hello my good friend Terrill!!! I suspect that FISH TANK will make it’s way to Vancouver, and then to your specific neck of the woods. I am sure you will like it quite a bit. As I stated to Dee Dee, I muast take things one day at a time, as everytime I assume thing are improving, I fall back. Thanks so much for the kind words.
hi Sam….been away for a holiday break for the last couple of weeks. Been catching up on bit and pieces…
I saw:
10 Minute Tales** – 12 ten minute silent films shown on Sky Arts (basically Rupert Murdoch’s British outpost in his media empire). This is the first thing that they’ve done that actually merits any value. A host of famous faces and interesting directorial talent. With at least one little classic.
Junior bonner* – A has been rodeo-rider returns to his community to enter a contest but finds things are changing.
A character study without a centre, Steve MacQueen’s star charisma allows a vacum and Robert Preston steals the show.
Far From Heaven* – An upper middle class wife finds herself in turmoil when she finds her husband is a closet homosexual and herself drawn to the black gardener.
Watching this, my mind strarted to whisper “Douglas Sirk, Douglas Sirk” – the photography is pretty in the way mid ’30s colour movies or ’50s melodramas were without being dazzling in the way that Hitch’s ‘The Trouble with Harry’ used the same seasons. But it never got to me emotionally, perhaps because the director asked his actors to copy the tone and style of ’50s actors, usually vastly inferior, such as Jane Wyman. It just didn’t work for me.
Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday**** – An accident prone man goes on holiday and causes havoc and mayhem without quite realising it.
The Magnificent Tati…much copied but so wonderfully unique. Most of the film is shot in medium shot, so that his face is a blur and the audience can take his place, the tempo and rhythm is soothing, relaxing, joyfully the good life. The jazzy, laid music utterly devine. And the final stamping of postage onto the film image is a masterstroke, the film a postcard or letter of holiday events.
Requiem for a Dream**** – Four people with various drug addictions, face the highs and extreme lows of their habit on the road to ruin over a year.
Absolutely stunning modern independent classic which never flinches. I thought that I wouldn’t care for the characters at all, but they grow on you- its a shared humanity and their quirks of personality and motivation drill in. The camera technique is showy but appropriate, the music unforgettable, the descent into degrading hell done via deleriously fast cross-cutting musical creasendo.
A Serious Man*** – A wuss of a man is downtrodden by all he comes into, trying to make sense of it all, via religon.
Perhaps that most rare thing, an ethnic movie – full of the rich flavour of Jewish customs, language and attitudes. It seemed to be a retelling of the parable of Job, I really need to rewatch this one. Their is no real narrative thrust, but each scene and sequence has a odd richness to it that propells it tipping into the next. The ending is both alarming and preplexing, but at least not the damp squibs of ‘No Country for Old Men’ and ‘Burn After Reading’.
Avater***
It seems like eons since there was a summer blockbuster as enjoyable as this one. Once again JC steals ideas from SF, Poul Anderson’s estate should sue for £100 million for the unauthorised adaption of his 1957 novelette, ‘Call Me Joe’. The bad guys are bad, the good guys good without much shading, the romance bland, but the sophisticated use of SF tropes and ideas, plus the sheer gall of taking on the Right-wing’s Free Market consumer madness and an action-packed battle that for once actually involves (unlike the earlier jungle expolits which just cliched chases).
Allan, thanks for ‘Alias Nick Beal’. Just watched it last night. Sam, will include it in the next line-up, it’s 5.30 in the morning!
Bobby, you have been missed greatly, but glad to see you are back!
Well, that * rating for FAR FROM HEAVEN of course for me really stands out like a sore thumb, especially since as you probably know, it is my #1 film of the entire deacde from 2000 to 2009. I saw this film 21 times in the theatre, qualifying me for psychiatric examination. For me this was on of the most emotional of all films, but I agree that if it didn’t resonate with you on that level, then it simply didn’t succeed.
Tati’s MONSIEUR is a masterpiece to these eyes, but your astute capsule doesn’t reallt take such an estimation to task.
I am a huge Aronofsky fan (especially THE FOUNTAIN) and I agree that Mansell’s music for REQUIEM is magnificent, though perhaps I like the film a tad less than you.
Your description there os the “ethnic” movie by the Coens is most apt, and I found it as their most philosophical film ever, and one of their best in any department. Michael Stuhlbarg was excellent in the lead.
I haven’t seen 10 MINUTE TALES, and I feel you are dead-on with JUNIOR BONNER, which doesn’t have a center.
I look forward to your reaction of ALIAS NICK BEAL, which I know you were dying to see for a very long time.
The ‘TERRIBLE TWOS’ usually refer to a period in an infant’s development, but here it appropriately fits into the terrible two events of the past weekend. AS YOU LIKE IT was an enjoyable adaptation by Sam Mendes, but the lack of leg room at the BAM was very discomforting. A BRIEF HISTORY OF MURDER, complete with full frontal male & female nudity, couldn’d even begin to save the basement production. We had more fun getting lost in Willamsburg than the actual production itself. The second of that ‘terrible twos’ goes to FISH TANK….what a horrendously boring film!!! Perhaps if you were a pedophile or a dirty old man you would have enjoyed the bumping and grinding of a female teen and her rather hefty mother. No saving graces here sans for credits at the end of two hours of misery. The saving grce that night was the bottle of wine (thanks to Lucille) savored at dinner afterwards. This weekend we, including Melanie, are looking forward to an off-Broadway production of Frank Wildehorn’s JEKYLL & HYDE and as for myself, the new Douglas Carter Beane comedy, MR. & MRS. FINCH with John Lithgow.
Ha Bob! I must say I am looking forward to the JEKYLL & HYDE off-Broadway revival, especially since I’ve never seen this in any appearance.
Yes, this past weekend was one for the record books in more ways than one.