So Iron Man II is out, so I guess everyone's really excited or disappointed, depending on what you thought of it. I'm still mulling over it for a while but you can enjoy two reviews meanwhile. Jose is not a big fan, though he does like some things. Tim also gives his thoughts on the imminenet Summer blockbuster with some fairly similar thoughts...Have you seen it as yet? What were thoughts?
Yojimbo gives some ink to 2008 release In Bruges (and one of my top 5 that year). He's more than a little positive? Were you a fan of the Farrell comedy?
I confessed recently that Dangerous Liaisons was one of the many R rated films I saw at too young an age. Frear’s 1988 production (I call it a classic, even as I’m aware it doesn’t fit the bill in the conventional sense) is inspired by a French play of the same name and holds the distinction of earning Glenn Close her fifth (and, thus far, final) Oscar nomination and Michelle Pfeiffer – her first. The story is of Countess De Meteil, a somewhat sadistic noblewoman and friend of renowned seducer Vicomte. If Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf was a tale of fun and games, Dangerous Liaisons could easily exist as a companion piece – but without the hopeful end. As the Countess and the Viscomte stand across each other in between them are their pawns – Madame du Tourvel, Madame, Sir and Cecile Volange. Relationships will be severed, new ones will arise, voices will be raised and alliances (both platonic and sexual) will be formed.
Last year, when Glenn Close won her second Emmy for her work on Damages, she thanked the creators for giving her what she said was maybe a role of a lifetime. Obviously her age was catching up with her, and she had forgotten her tenure in the eighties. From 1981 to 1988 Glenn earned five Oscar nominations. Five nominations in eight years, a feat that’s remarkable, regardless of your thoughts on the lady. In Dangerous Liaisons, she reaches the epitome of her skill (on film at least) creating a deeply flawed, thoroughly entertaining and highly quotable character. I always remember her first, when I think of Dangerous Liaisons. It’s only when I actually watch the film that I realise that she doesn’t loom over the narrative as much as my memory dictates. It’s easy to be drawn in by her excellent line readings, but one should never underestimate Close’s talent for subtlety. The moment I remember first is an incidental one. She arrives to steer the troubled Cecile in the right direction. She comes out of the carriage and makes the slightest, slightest, look of distaste under her hat and within the same second throws her hands out to embrace her tortured friend. It’s a moment that makes me catch my breath. Glenn plays it just right, and then some.
She’s not doing the work on her own, though. She’s surrounded by excellence. John Malkovich seems gloriously miscast and yet perfect for the role of the Vicomte. There’s something perverse in having him with his angular features and slight lisp playing the role of such a seducer, but it’s his speaking that convince you. He’s even more adept than Close at letting those wonderful lines roll from his tongue. It’s what makes the rapport between him and Pfeiffer so excellent. I know many are unmoved by her Volange, but I remain impressed each time I see it. It’s not so much that I love it for what she does (which is excellent) but I appreciate it even more for what she doesn’t do. There are so many ways this performance is almost begging to be bad and Pfeiffer each of the potholes with the highest element of subtlety. Uma Thurman impresses with that certain naïve charm that’s as comical as it is heartbreaking, it’s a divide enhanced by Swoozie Kurtz doing wonders as her mothers. Keanu Reeves doesn’t diminish the quality of the film, even lending in some instances a rare whimsical charm (that has obviously been eroded by age).
Dangerous Liaisons, though, is not just about the actors. It boasts effective costumes and sets, a thrilling score and of course the exceptional adaptation from Christopher Hampton. Hampton really is a credit to his craft and Dangerous Liaisons represents my favourite of his. It’s perfectly matched by the irreverent direction of Frears (who has always had a thing for the ostensibly incongruous). Dangerous Liaisons is not really a period piece, despite the costumes and era, and Frears direction is fittingly “modern” lending a certain originality to it all.
With such excellent details there’s no chance of me not appreciating it. The mere presence of Glenn Close is enough, and then added to all the other wonders Dangerous Liaisons cannot but be a favourite of mine, appearing at #17. After all, it is beyond my control…
Another entry in my irregular series on NBC’s Thursday’s comedy slot: LAST WEEK'S ENTRY
I haven’t seen Community in some time. It emerged last year as a somewhat off kilter lead-in for Parks & Recreation. Like any show, it has its good and it’s bad but when it’s bad it’s really bad and for me last night was one of those “bad” episodes. The entire episode"Modern Warfare" centred on the community college students engaging a series of paintball face-offs in hope of gaining priority registration. One of the conceits that sometimes fail on the show is their tendency to veto the belief of there being a real college with students and the resultant being the main characters being the only students. Of course any show focusing on school has this issue but whereas others pull it off (see Glee) Community often fails. The entire premise of the school engaging in a paintball fight was just a bit too ridiculous, even by the standards of TV Land. I figure that Community aims to be a satire, but I’m never sure if their incessant use of clichés is lazy writing or some attempt to make a point (whatever that may be).
Parks & Recreation fared better. In another strong episode this time we saw Leslie dealing with an all night telethon in Pawnee. Amy Poehler continues to give some of the best comedic performances on any TV show; I’m really hoping Emmy remembers. Nick Offerman's attempts to liven the telethon with his chair making skills were indeed funny. The subplot dealt with Mark’s imminent proposal to Ann, but it seems as if the relationship may be heading south. (Honestly, the Ann and Mark relationship is one of my less favourite things on Parks & Recreation. Both Schneider and Jones are actors I like, but they just seem too normal together, combating the whole ridiculousness that should be Parks & Recreation.) However, the person who ended up stealing the show was Aziz Ansari's Tom. His meeting Detlef Shcrempf and ensuing drunkedness (after two lite beers) was golden, and nothing last night precipitated as loud a laugh as when he got up to do an impromptu version of “Turn My Swag On”. I’m going to be missing this when the summer comes.
The Office followed up a good episode last week with a very good one last night. It had much of what I liked, and less of what I didn’t. I’m wondering if my telepathy is working because I’m getting more and more of Ryan and Kelly, easily my favourite two people on the show. It makes sense that it was these two who planted the seed in Michael’s thoughts that his new girlfriend was cheating. Kelly’s awareness of pop culture (and her lack of awareness in everything else) never fails to amuse me, and Ryan’s tips on finding out if your girlfriend is cheating were quite helpful (Does she shower after sex? Does she shower before sex?). Even the iffy subplot of Daryl and Andy managed to work. Even though I didn’t expect it, I wasn’t too shocked to find out that Donna was married. Michael’s delivery was classic, “I’m the other woman?” The episode was filled with small cute moments like Michael’s mayonnaise and black olives (fake ice-cream) or Dwight’s attempt to pickup Donna at the gym in his sweaty repulsiveness.
30 Rock was back on the uphill, somewhat, even if it took a theme episode to bring out – celebrating Mother’s Day. The thing is, as enjoyable as the episode was the one thing that keeps preventing me from loving 30 Rock is the lack of character development – especially with the secondary characters. I’m guessing, though, now that Liz has realised that there’s no such thing as the perfect man she’ll stop setting her standards so high. The episode had some cute moments, though. Jack’s mother attempts to make Kenneth forget his name (which worked) were quite entertaining. It actually was quite fun seeing the cast interact with their “mothers”, though some were fake. All in a pleasant episode, but not quite stellar, but Jane Krakowski continues her excellence.
RATINGS
Community, "Modern Warfare":C
30 Rock, "The Moms": B/B-
Parks & Recreation, "The Telethon":B+
The Office, "The Cover Up"B+
Quotables:
#3 Amy Poehler on Parks & Recreation: There are two types of diabetes, but only one type of caring: type 1 caring, and I hope you'll all be stricken with it tonight. (It works better in context, but still cracks me up.)
#2 Nick Offerman on Parks & Recreation: Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day…don’t teach a man to fish and you feed yourself.
#1 Jane Krakowski on 30 Rock (in response to Tracy’s belief that we all have our faults): Yes, sometimes I sing too beautifully.
Don’t you hate it when the lovers don’t end up together? Damn, realism to hell I think everyone gets those pangs in the stomach when the credits roll and you realise that the lovers will be remain apart. The thing is, it works in films. So many classics have been memorable precisely because the lovers end up apart, it hurts, but it’s still true. It doesn't count when they die, so things like Titanic and Atonement don't count. I'm talking about those films where everyone ends up alive - but they also end up alone, living alone and not liking it.These are the five that I think do the deed best. Interesting enough, interestingly all five are Best Picture winners four are Oscar winners.
Gone With the Wind (1939) (my review) "Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn."
Clark Gable doesn’t do much for me, granted I’m not the target audience for him to “do things to”. He’s a fine actor, but I just never go crazy for him. Of course, Gone With the Wind is all about Ms. Vivien Leigh who is completely riveting as our protagonist Scarlett. Unlike another entry, Gone With the Wind is often referred to as a love-story, at heart - something I never really see. I will admit though, Gable and Leigh do have some striking chemistry and that makes the film just a little more excellent.
Casablanca (1942) (my review) "Play it once, Sam. For old times sakes."
Ingrid Bergman is just lovely, and Bogey is no slouch himself. It's another one of those tragically memorable ones and with good reason, I suppose. I don't love it quite as much as the everyone else, but I do love it.There is much to love. True, the romance sometimes is secondary much of the plot - like with Gone With the Wind) and true it's a story that's more about coping with life's hardships than about love...but it's still a story about love at the end of it all.
Of course the crux of Annie Hall lies in her become too mature for Annie Hall and in that way I suppose it's not so sad as pathetic. But I can't make a list like this without Woody. Sure, Alvy just can't commit and that's the very reason the relationship cannot survive - and therein lies the tragedy. They just cannot function together forever, no matter how good they are as one. True it's a comedy, but it's a bittersweet one.
Shakespeare in Love (1998)(my review) "This is not life, Will, it's a stolen season."
It's true, like the others, the poignancy in this tale lies in the fact that the lovers don't end up with each other, but it's still sad. Palthrow and Fiennes work so well together, and we know it won't end well for love. Nonetheless, I can't help but get a little teary eyed as they part for the final time, and when that final image of Palthrow pops up walking on the beach...just magic. It's not wholly loved, but I love it enough to make up for the haters.
The Age of Innocence (1993) (my review) "I think we should look at reality not dreams"
Yes, the last one's the one that didn't get that Best Picture win (or nomination), but I'll always pretend. Michelle Pfeiffer and Daniel Day Lewis are scorching even though they spend so much time apart, but little things like a kiss on the neck, a glove are all so erotic, and it's all so tragic. Scorsese knows how to direct tortured souls, and Newland and Ellen are two such souls. Unlike the above four, they don't even get to consummate their relationships and spend just a few moments of almost bliss. Heartbreakingly tragic.
Which of these unrequited lovers thrill you the most? Which of your own would you add?
Craaaaaaaazy! Craaaaaazy! Crazy... for you baaaaybeeeh.
Aight! So The Crazies is a remake of George A. Romero's film from 1973 and it's about this small town where most of it's inhabitants experience heightened aggressive and violent nature after their water supply gets contaminated with some bla bla bla toxin. The film follows a group of people as they try to survive the infected townsfolk and escape the army who has arrived to exterminate everyone in the town.
I'm just gonna straight up come out and say that this movie is average at best and there's really nothing interesting to watch and nothing I can say that will make you watch this. I don't care how well they dressed this movie up with the gore and scares, we've seen this movie been done a billion times before. But there were some redeeming points to The Crazies.
First of, you gotta understand that this movie isn't a zombie movie. The infected in this don't turn into zombies, they just have a heightened aggressive nature that causes them to act more violently than usual. They are still very much sane people which does give some tension between the main characters and the infected cause these characters know each other.
I also like that the main villain in the film isn't the "crazies" but the government and the army who are sort of portrayed as faceless monsters cause we hardly see any of their faces in them gas masks. To be honest I found the military in this more scary than the actual crazies so I guess this was either a fail or win on the directors part.
But this still doesn't change the fact that this was a really mediocre movie. The writing in this is lazy and average, there isn't any character development nor plot development at all which made the film a wondering pointless piece of video with some good effects and lousy jump scares. Towards the end of the film, I feel no attachment whatsoever to the main characters, throughout the whole film I barely gave a rats ass if most of them lived or died.
The only guy I did enjoyed in this was Joe Anderson from Across The Universe who I think gave this movie another underlying theme without the intention of the director or the writer. His character brings the whole air of paranoia to the group of survivors because he keeps loosing his temper which makes everyone in the group a little suspicious cause let me remind you, the infected in this movie aren't sick.. they're just a little angry. So the moment Joe Anderson starts losing his temper, it really begs the question if he has been infected or not. But sadly it wasn't explored much cause it wasn't consciously written into the story.
And then there's Radha Mitchell. Seriously this girl hasn't gotten enough credit man. She is kind of like the action star for B rated actresses and she's been so good in so many movies but no one ever remembers her. And while I can't say I enjoyed watching her in this movie, I am still a big fan of hers.
Plus she's fine as hell!
Well there you have it. There's nothing great about this film but there's nothing bad about it as well. But would recommend you watch this? Naw. It doesn't add anything to your life.
A musical meme has originated from HERE, and I've been tagged...so on with the meme....
1. Open up your iTunes, music player, spin the CD, whatever, hit shuffle and tell us what is the first song to play…?
"Walk Like An Egyptian", remember that oldie? I do. If you wanna find all the cops they're hanging out in the donut shop.
2. Name your top 5 favourite bands/musicians of all time.
Okay this is one difficult question, and since even I’m unaware who’d fall in that list I’ll just list five from different genres. THE COMPOSER: Stephen Sondheim – I’m not head-over-heels for all things theatre, but this man can do wrong as far as I’m concerned. THE ICON: Michael Jackson, for being so prolific and for being so entertaining. THE QUEEN: Madonna – because she’s hot, and if you’re honest you’ll admit it, and because her music is so much fun. THE GROUP: Matchbox 20 – they’re just excellent. Often I’ll hear a Matchbox 20 song on the radio and get those nostalgic pangs remember their heyday. THE DIVA: Barbra Streisand – I know it’s weird for a straight male to pledge allegiance to Babs, but oh well. There. I said it. I can’t account for the loathing she undergoes. The woman can sing and she often ends up covering songs and making them sound way better than the originals.
3. What was your first CD to own? (8 track, Record, CD, MP3 for the newbies)
I believe it was Lauryn Hill’s The Miseducation of Lauryn one of the most oddly riveting pieces from the genre, easily the premiere work of any female MC and possibly one of the greatest debuts. Each track is something special; it’s a pity that was the beginning and the end.listen
4. Of all the bands/artists in your cd/record collection, which one do you own the most albums by?
I really don’t hoard that many single cds or records, and then with I-tunes and Limewire and all that jazz often it’s just single songs…but I suppose Whitney Houston. My mother is a huge fan of hers and she’s given me interim control of her music…and that’s somewhere about a dozen albums.
5. What was the last song you listened to?
"Drops of Jupiter" by Train; they’re not particularly consistent but when they’re on they’re just brilliant. This remains as one of my favourite tracks of the last decade.listen
6. What song would you say sums you up?
I can’t choose one, so I’ll give three.
“Superman” from Five For the Fighting in that poignant way
“Great Big Stuff” from Dirty Rotten Scoundrels the musical sung by Norbert Leo Butz for the egocentric in us all
“I Have Confidence” for the bad days when we all need a pick-me-upper. Doesn’t Julie Andrews make everyone feel bright and bubbly inside (even this version is by the lovely Audra McDonald, isn't he great?), even though in all honesty I’m more dark and twisty so this song really doesn’t sum me up… but I couldn’t do a musical post and not include The Sound of Music
7. What’s your favourite local band or band that originated from your hometown?
Well you wouldn’t know any of them…since they haven't made it "big" I don’t even know what my home town is. I’ve lived in seven different places in the last fifteen years so…je ne sais pas.. but here's a Guyanese song...a medley of sorts...
8. What's the greatest concert you've ever been to?
Eh, never been to one. That does make me sound weird…but I’m not a fan of the local music scene, so nothing.
9. What musician would you like to hang out with for a day?
Ummmm, Kristin Chenoweth even though she’s not really a “musician”, but a day with her would be fuuuuuuuuuuuun.
10. What was the greatest decade for music?
I’m very tempted to say the nineties, for nostalgic reasons even though I’m well aware that this question just may be unanswerable.
11. What is your favourite movie soundtrack?
West Side Story, Sondheim and Bernstein create a score that’s dangerously close to perfection.
12. What’s the most awful CD/record/etc. you’ve ever bought?
Ashanti’s debut album. I loathe the woman; luckily I didn’t buy it for myself.
13. What's your favourite band t-shirt or poster?
Once again, no answer here.
14. Rolling Stones or The Beatles?
The Beatles win this easily, even though I don’t love them. I do love their writing but often prefer covers of the songs than their actual singing.
15. What is the one song you would most like played at your funeral? Your birthday? While on a romantic date?
"And I'm Telling You" (Whitney Houston) at my funeral. That would be EPIC!
"Being Alive" (Stephen Sondheim) on my birthday
"Bonnie & Clyde" (Jay-Z and Beyonce) on a date
Music first couple? Perhaps. Jay-Z is easily my favourite rapper, even though he’s not as prolific anymore (what with being a Tony nominee and all) and Beyonce is just consistently excellent.
…and just because I want to…a list of fifteen random current artistes I like i.e. people you hear on the radio…
All American Rejects, Beyonce, Coldplay, Duffy, The Fray, Green Day, Justin Timberlake, Lifehouse, Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, Michael Buble, Missy Misdemeanour Elliot, Nickelback, Train, Usher
Who to tag? Who to tag?
I’ll keep tagging Jose, even if he won’t play along (curmudgeon). Luke, Castor, Anahita, Walter, Cris, Peter. If music be the food of love, play on...
One of the few hundred detractors of not living in New York is not getting see anything on Broadway. I'm neither here nor there about the Tony Nominations, though I'm glad to see a few names there...especially those from the film world...and some stage stalwarts like Sherie Rene Scott, above (who I hope finally wins her goddamn Tony Award). I do wish my beloved Cheno had gotten nominated, but alas no. Any nominations made you particularly glad? Have you (gasp) seen any of the shows? See the full list HERE.
