MD Reviews: Grumpy Old Men

 

Oscar sure loves his villains, especially in the Supporting Actor category. Such recent winners as Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh, Christoph Waltz as Hans Landa and Heath Ledger as The Joker certainly proves this, and this past year was no different, with the gold going to J.K. Simmons for his mesmerizingly manipulative performance as Terence Fletcher in the equally engrossing Best Picture nominee Whiplash. His victory is even more impressive considering (unlike his predecessors) he wasn't playing a psychotic murderer but a college music teacher... albeit a really, really mean college music teacher.

It's to writer/director Damien Chazelle's credit that we don't just see Fletcher's nasty side; there are hints that below all the abusiveness (a folding chair or two is hurled, for example) there is a reasonable human being, one that even has a reasonably logical explanation for his questionable behavior. The hero of the piece, Andrew (Miles Teller, holding his own opposite Simmons), is an aspiring drummer who finds himself the bullseye for Fletcher's wrath once he joins his school's jazz ensemble. Fletcher brings out the best and worst in Andrew, both artistically and morally, and their battles (ironically for the same goal) make Whiplash (named for one of the musical pieces heard in the film) as taut and tension-filled as any thriller.

While the Supporting Actor nominee in The Judge could only be called the villain of the film in the broadest sense, he does represent another popular character type in the category: the disgruntled daddy. Robert Duvall (whose nomination here makes him the oldest Supporting Actor nominee in Academy Award history) plays the curmudgeonly title character of a small town who is arrested for murder and must rely on his estranged son, a hot shot big city lawyer played by Robert Downey Jr. (in perhaps his most mature performance to date) to represent him.

A tad overlong and predictable, The Judge is nevertheless a compelling courtroom/dysfunctional family drama thanks to the two R.D.s, both at the top of their game. Their scenes together, especially as the story progresses and the characters' lifelong walls begin to fall, anchor the film and make its missteps (such as a bizarre subplot involving Vera Farmiga as a former flame — and possible baby momma — of Downey's character) easier to take.

There are some villains, like Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter and Daniel Day Lewis as Bill the Butcher, who can't be contained within the supporting category and find themselves Best Actor nominees. Such is the case with Steve Carell as creepy philanthropist/obsessive wrestling enthusiast John du Pont in the based-on-a-true-story sports drama Foxcatcher. An heir to the du Pont family fortune, John du Pont is mainly, infamously known for his inexplicable murder of Olympic wrestler David Schultz (played by Mark Ruffalo, who was the one nominated as Best Supporting Actor). Foxcatcher (the title is taken from the sporting facility located on the du Pont family estate) focuses on the events leading up to the tragedy, beginning with du Pont's taking David's younger brother, fellow Olympian Mark (a brutish Channing Tatum) under his wing.

A lot of effort (and time in the makeup chair) was spent to make Carell into du Pont, strange considering du Pont is hardly a recognizable historical figure... and in the end, Carell doesn't look much like the real du Pont anyway. As directed by Capote's Bennett Miller (who somehow nabbed a Best Director nod despite a lack of Best Picture recognition in a field of up to ten contenders), Foxcatcher is lugubriously paced and, despite some strong if a bit oddly-pitched performances, ends up as pointless as the death of David Schultz.

MD Ratings:
Whiplash: A
The Judge: B-
Foxcatcher: C-

Whiplash, The Judge and Foxcatcher are now all available on DVD and Blu-ray:



Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and Rage Monthly Magazine.

Reverend's Reviews: Its a Trans' & Dog's Life

 

One of the more remarkable depictions to date of a transgender person's journey, Sophie Hyde's 52 Tuesdays, is opening this weekend at the Quad Cinema in New York City. It is also newly available for viewing on demand via Fandor. Hyde, an Australian, won the Best Director-World Cinema Dramatic award at January's Sundance Film Festival for her achievement here.

Billed as "Boyhood meets Transparent" but compressed from 12 years to one, we encounter James (beautifully played by gender non-conforming actor Del Herbert-Jane) during weekly sessions with his therapist as well as interactions with his struggling family members. You see, James is in the process of transitioning from female to male with varying degrees of support from his 16-year old daughter, Billie (Tilda Cobham-Hervey), Billie's father and educators, and others.

While she publicly vocalizes an unwavering acceptance of her mother-to-father's endeavor, Billie secretly begins to act out in inappropriate ways. She experiments sexually with a coupled young man and woman, going so far as to record their encounters on her camera phone. All hell breaks loose for all concerned once this is discovered. As 52 Tuesdays makes crystal clear, transgender conflicts don't only impact the individual experiencing them within him/herself but those people closest to them. As James pointedly remarks to Billie at one point, "Its not just about the physical."

Sensitively written by Hyde and Matthew Cormack and naturalistically performed by an excellent cast of non-professional actors, the film explores numerous issues related to gender, sexuality, parenting and family life. It also raises big philosophical questions (literally) including "What is an authentic life?" and "How do you know what really matters?" If these aren't thought-provoking enough, Hyde incorporates news footage of concurrent real-world events (with global warming a particular concern) that places the intimate story within a much larger context. Make a date with 52 Tuesdays.

Also opening today in NYC before rolling out in Los Angeles on April 3rd and then nationally is White God, winner of the Un Certain Regard jury prize at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. This parable about abandoned and abused dogs who organize to terrorize the Hungarian populace serves as an effective metaphor for political tensions in Europe past and present.

In Kornel Mundruczo's film, all dogs of mixed-breed heritage have been deemed unfit and their owners must pay a hefty fine to keep them. Those dogs whose owners are unwilling or unable to pay are rounded up and sent to shelters to await their fate. Any parallels to Naziism, social engineering, concentration camps and ethnic cleansing are wholly intended.

Young Lili (Zsofia Psotta) makes the innocent mistake of visiting her divorced, dog-intolerant father with her beloved mixed-breed Hagen in tow just as the new law takes effect. Her father acquiesces to Lili's tearful pleadings not to turn Hagen over to the authorities by dumping him on the street to fend for himself. Hagen falls in with a pack of fellow strays but, despite their best and cinematically exciting efforts to avoid it, they are eventually captured. He is then adopted by an unsavory man who trains him for underground dogfights (fortunately, most of the film's brutality takes place off camera). Such abuse plants the seeds of revolution in Hagen and hundreds of other dogs who come to accept him as their leader.

White God suffers at times from a scattershot tone, being cute and comedic one moment, dark and disturbing the next, and is occasionally too overt or preachy with its metaphorical approach. Its marauding former pets and unresolved ending, though, reminded me most of Hitchcock's The Birds. That's certainly not a bad film to aspire to while crafting a needed cautionary tale.

Reverend's Ratings:
52 Tuesdays: B+
White God: B

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and Rage Monthly Magazine.

Reverend's Reviews: Cinderella with a Wine Chaser

 

Cinderella is all over the place nowadays. The kindhearted but neglected stepdaughter/stepsister who ultimately triumphs with a little help from her fairy godmother currently stars in the #1 movie in the US that bears her name, and she recently played a significant role in the hit movie version of the stage musical Into the Woods. If that wasn't enough, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella made its Tony Award-winning Broadway debut in 2013 after being limited to three television productions since the 1950's.

The R&H stage version is now touring nationally and just parked its magical carriage at Los Angeles' Ahmanson Theatre through April 26th. Magical turns out to be an apt description of the production, thanks not only to its evocative woodland setting (complete with charming fox and raccoon puppets) but primarily due to a number of instant, on-stage costume changes that deservedly drew both gasps and rousing applause from the opening night audience. The fox and raccoon also transform impressively into Cinderella's human coachmen, played respectively by the athletic Adrian Arrieta and Blakely Slaybaugh.

Out playwright and screenwriter Douglas Carter Beane (Xanadu, The Little Dog Laughed, The Nance) has revised Oscar Hammerstein II's original book to such an extent that Beane receives a "new book by" credit. His new vision of Cinderella as a feminist who considers social reform a higher objective than marrying the prince will likely startle those most familiar with her Disney incarnations past and present. However, Beane actually drew from Charles Perrault's original story — written in 1697 but inspired by versions of the tale that date back over 2,000 years — while also injecting his trademark, lighthearted snark.

The current stage heroine (beautifully played, sung and danced by Paige Faure) remains the virtual slave of her wicked stepmother, Madame (Fran Drescher of The Nanny fame having fun in the mostly non-singing role). Only one of Cinderella's stepsisters, though, truly mistreats her and even she turns out to be not all that bad. Meanwhile, a local revolutionary named Jean-Michel (David Andino) is rallying their fellow downtrodden to rise up against the recently-ascended Prince Topher (Andy Huntington Jones, who wins over viewers pretty much as soon as he appears) for abuses that are actually being engineered behind Topher's back by his prime minister. There is also a crazy old woman (the crowd-pleasing Kecia Lewis) in the vicinity who has a trick or two, or twenty, concealed under her beggar's rags.

Hammerstein's and Richard Rodgers' score has been significantly overhauled in addition to the book, with the addition of several songs that were written for but dropped from other of the pair's shows. When the tunes aren't unquestionably rapturous they are winningly comic (especially the act two opener, "Stepsister's Lament") and, unlike most show tunes written today, immediately memorable. I was struck during intermission by how many men were whistling or humming songs from act I while we were all in the restroom!

While the amazing visuals — chiefly William Ivey Long's Tony Award winning costumes and Anna Louizos' sets — are what most audience members will be talking about, director Mark Brokaw and choreographer Josh Rhodes deserve major credit for respecting the integrity of the classic score and largely letting the songs stand for themselves. They wisely resist adding excessive dance or "business" to their staging. The result is a lovely and, yes, truly magical night at the theatre.

Cinderella also has a featured part in Stephen Sondheim's and James Lapine's fairy tale-inspired Into the Woods, which was finally brought to the big screen in December after 27 years of cinematic gestation. Anna Kendrick perfectly embodied their more neurotic, indecisive depiction of the classic character.

Rob Marshall corralled a mostly terrific all-star cast for the film, which will be available on home video and VOD from Disney on March 24th. In addition to Kendrick, there is Meryl Streep as the Witch (for which she received a record-breaking 19th Academy Award nomination), Emily Blunt as the Baker's Wife and James Corden as her husband, with Christine Baranski, Tracey Ullmann and Star Trek's Chris Pine in supporting roles. The weak link for both the cast and the film as a whole is Johnny Depp as the Wolf. His relatively brief appearance includes some amusing dancing and prancing but his singing voice has suffered since 2007's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, perhaps as a result of smoking. To make matters worse, Depp and costume designer Colleen Atwood chose to dress the Wolf in an anachronistic zoot suit that threatens the otherwise timeless quality and look of the film. Fortunately, the overall story survives and the movie is otherwise beautifully designed and photographed.

It is worth buying or renting Into the Woods to check out a new Sondheim song that was written and filmed but ultimately cut. Streep sings "She'll Be Back" as a soliloquy after her beloved Rapunzel has left her. The song and Streep's performance of it are fine (Sondheim likely would have received an Oscar nomination as well), and in introducing the scene Marshall describes the agonizing process of deciding to remove it from the finished movie. It is a worthy bonus for musical aficionados.

Those readers who are not musical or fairy tale fans, or those who just need a break from the current spate of musicals and fairy tales, can chase things down with the ten-hour Mondovino: The Series. Newly available on DVD courtesy of Icarus Films' KimStim Collection, it is an epic exploration of the personalities, politics and economics behind the world's billion-dollar wine industry. Director Jonathan Nossiter gained unfettered and sometimes unflattering access to wine makers around the world, including the frequently vilified Robert Mondavi and numerous members of his family.

Mondovino is insightful and entertaining, and wine connoisseurs will probably have a field day with it. But, as much of the footage was shot a decade or more ago, it feels somewhat dated; after all, Robert Mondavi passed away in 2008. Nossiter also serves as the series' often irritating cinematographer, overusing shaky hand-held camerawork and odd extreme close ups of his interview subjects. While Mondovino: The Series makes for rewarding viewing in some ways, you may feel the need for a stiff drink afterward.

Reverend's Ratings:
Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella: A-
Into the Woods: B+
Mondovino: The Series: B-

Into the Woods and Mondovino: The Series are now available on Blu-ray and/or DVD:


Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and Rage Monthly Magazine.

MD Reviews: Up in the Air

The Wind Rises, the final film from the legendary Academy Award winning director Hayao Miyazaki, is a fitting swan song for the recently retired master animator. Featuring themes of inspiration, innovation and the inevitable obsolescence of an art form, Miyazaki's choice of the brilliant Japanese airplane designer Jiro Horikoshi as his subject provides him with the perfect onscreen counterpart to tell his last cinematic story.

Flight is a common factor in much of Miyazaki's work, from Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind to Kiki's Delivery Service, and The Wind Rises brings it full circle, to the literal creation of flight. The film tells the true story of Horikoshi from his schoolboy youth to his engineering triumph, the Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter plane (used during World War II against the Allies... best not to dwell too much on that). Along the way there is an ultimately tragic tale of lost love found that becomes the heart of the film and provides its most bittersweet moments.

A biopic is an unusual genre for animation, thus (save for a few dreamlike meetings between our protagonist and his fantasy mentor, Italian aviation genius Giovanni Battista Caproni) the film is naturally devoid of any of Miyazaki's typical magical elements. And while that omission makes The Wind Rises his most accessible for those of us unfamiliar with Japanese lore and culture, it doesn't mean it lacks any of Miyazaki's beloved trademark artistic style. There's plenty of his gorgeous sky- and landscapes, as well as his intricately detailed flying machines that are somehow simple and complex at the same time.

For a complete flight of fantasy from Studio Ghibli (the animation house that Miyazaki built) one need to look no further than The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, directed by Isao Takahata (My Neighbors the Yamadas).

Magically "born" in the middle of a bamboo patch, the little princess is adopted by a hardworking farmer and his patient wife. Considered a "gift from heaven", the new father builds a castle for his new daughter so she can be the princess he feels she is destined to become. But the newly-christened Princess Kaguya would rather frolic and play, even though she grows more beautiful — and displays more magical talents — day by day.

A recent Oscar nominee for Best Animated Feature (as was The Wind Rises last year), Princess Kaguya is steeped in Japanese folklore, often to the point of confusion for us westerners. Nevertheless, this is a Tale beautifully told through a rougher hand drawn style reminiscent of ancient water color drawings.

MD Ratings:
The Wind Rises: B+
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya: B-

The Wind Rises and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya are both available now on DVD and Blu-ray:


Review by Kirby Holt, creator and editor of Movie Dearest, The QuOD: The Queer Online Database and the Out Movie Guide.