Stores, Lies and Credit Card Tape

Whenever one has a visceral, repugnant reaction to something, there's usually more of one's self at issue, rather than the external stimulus. So yeah, look within when you're seething about someone or something, right?

Confessions of a Shopaholic brought not only those groans one makes when watching a really bad film, but it also struck hard at my anti-fashion/anti-bimbo sensibilities. Constant predictability. Cartoon-like, exaggerated characters. Trite story line. A painfully depressing depiction of female characters (lying, superficial, marginally talented).
Then there's the obsession with designer everything (a debt we will forever owe to "Sex in the City"). And this simplistic view of women as either fashionistas or shlubs. Thanks for that message. I'm sure that does wonders for young women everywhere!

Sure the timing of this film couldn't be worse. In current financial times, is anyone able to relate to a free-spending addict who racks up credit card debt like designer handbags? That's just so...early 2000s. There's no blame attributable to the film for our current economic mess. But when reaching the major low point of the character's journey, and feeling nothing short of glee, I'd say some finger pointing in the filmmakers' direction is warranted.

Unlike "Elle Woods" in Legally Blond, whose fashion sense was merely part of a unique character with brains and drive, "Bets" has nothing for us to fall in love with. Her relentless lying might perhaps be more of an issue (and make a more interesting story) than her relentless shopping.

And when I look inward, I can confess: movies about fashion have never been very impressive to me. Eating disorders and tortured animal skins are not my cup of tea. But any great film should transcend subject with good story. (So you don't need to be a rock star to appreciate Spinal Tap.) This one didn't.

And confession number two: I tried to read this book when it first came out. I don't think I made it through the first chapter. Maybe that's just me, though. Off-the-rack-wearing, overweight, plain old me. Talk about a feel good chick flick!

Love & War

As an audience member you really shouldn’t be too ahead of your characters or they come across as idiots. Just as in horror movies where it’s a constant battle of dumbness with folks going backwards into dark rooms, splitting up and of course assuming the maniac is dead and not kicking their weapon away or shooting them again. James Gray’s “Two Lovers” doesn’t have any murders- just the predictability. Leonard (Joaquin Phoenix) is supposed to be a manically depressed, but often witty, regular-Joe. He has it half-down not seeming to be any fun in the least and almost “Sling Blade” slow. He also is just not believable as a middle-class Jewish boy (nor is Isabella Rossellini- yeah you heard me, as his mom.) Predictably Vinessa Shaw is the nice Jewish girl who would save him versus the fragile and exploitative shiksa played by Gwyneth Paltrow doing her best to sell the “New Yawk” accent. This film has received good reviews and I did find the camera work atmospheric and the mood appropriately downbeat. However the all star casting goes against it making it seem a little like an SNL skit- though if I could just transplant Adam Sandlers’ character in “Reign over Me” into Phoenix’s place we may have had the likeability we needed as we watch this dude stumble through his love life. Robin Williams also did a great job in a similarly toned, little known film “Seize the Day” twenty years earlier –so I think Phoenix’s performance was the problem. Then he went on Letterman in that prank deal- Oy Vey!

Having given thirty choices for best releases this year so far, I am happy to give my first recommendation for the second half of 09. “Waltz with Bashir” is an “animated documentary” about the 1982 Lebanon war as seen by the Israeli foot soldier. Director Ari Folman is the basis of the main character who has his own repressed memory of the war jarred after a friend tells him of a recurring nightmare which features the many dogs he killed during that war coming back to get him. The animation seems to be rotoscoping (painting over a filmed image), but supposedly it is not. Actors were filmed for reference only. I think the animation serves its’ purpose, adding to the unreality and dreamlike nature needed as various characters recount their war stories. It also captures the absurdity and odd juxtapositions of war (creepy dead horses, an attack in an orchard, apartment dwellers watching a firefight from their balconies) which I found to be reminiscent of “Apocalypse Now”. As our heroes’ memory is stimulated by his comrades’ tales we realize why he has blocked them in the first place. Perhaps this films’ compelling visual style will pull one teenager away from their war porn video games long enough to give the joy of killing a second thought.

A Love Affair with British Telly

Stop what you're thinking. You read that title and are thinking of "Monty Python's Flying Circus," aren't you? Or perhaps, "Upstairs Downstairs?" "Coronation Street?"

Not that these shows weren't brilliant (although----eek, I admit---I never liked Monty Python! Stop throwing tomatoes at the computer, please. I'm nothing if not honest).
Of course I love "Keeping Up Appearances" (Patricia Routledge's Hyacinth Bucket was nothing short of pee-in-your-pants hilarious). And "Faulty Towers." And one of my absolute fave dramas (with a genre-busting performance by Helen Mirren) is "Prime Suspect."

But let's move forward, shall we? To some of the best series television I've seen. Thanks to my obsession with Netflix, it's been a TV series rental extravaganza around our place. And here are some gems you will not want to miss:

The Royle Family
Thanks to my wonderful friend from London, Jeanne, we were introduced to this sweet, funny, modern take on "All in the Family." Well, not literally All in the Family, but for us Americans, it's an appropriate reference. Meet the Royles, a Manchester clan who cluster around their own telly and share life's ups, downs and sideways. Such subtle beauty takes a lot to achieve. It's a picture perfect cast that becomes so easy to get lost in. Denise's (Caroline Aherne) scratchy little voice is never less than endearing, as she whines to her Mam (Sue Johnston) about this (her soon-to-be husband, Dave (Craig Cash) and that (her brother, Antony's (Ralf Little), slights and insults). At the helm of it all, the bigger-than-life, riotously raw patriarch, Jim (Ricky Tomlinson). I dare you not to fall in love with this family.

The bad news? Only Seasons 1 and 2 are available here in the US, through Netflix.

Spaced
Just thinking of this brings a big goofy smile to my face. Meet Tim; his housemate Daisy; Marsha, their unique landlady; and Brian, the tortured artist downstairs. Sounds cheesy, doesn't it? It isn't. It's dairy-free. Hilarious and creative, this is Simon Pegg at his best. From Tim and Daisy's adventures, to their deeply suppressed attraction, it's bring-on-the-diapers-because-I-will-pee-in-my-pants funny. Jessica Hynes delivers another comedic masterpiece in this series (we first encountered her in "The Royle Family" and were delighted to see her in this).

The bad news? Only 2 seasons (7 episodes each) were made, from 1999-2001. There are legions of fans, on both sides of the Atlantic, wanting more, more, more.



Primeval
Let me preface this by saying that I love sci-fi. Time travel? Count me in. Space adventures? Unexplained phenomena? Bring it on. I grew up watching reruns of "Lost in Space" and still love that show (the original 1960s TV series, not the 1998 film).

If you can admit to sharing any of these feelings, you'll probably grow to love "Primeval" as much as I grew to love it. "Grew" as in-----you must get past the cringe factor right from the start. Maybe a low budget is responsible for sparse settings and the small supporting cast (as in government building situations, which should be crawling with suits, uniforms, and the like). But once you get beyond this, you find yourself sucked into this world of anomalies ----and wondering why they didn't just name the damn show, "Anomaly." I was predisposed to liking this series, since Juliet Aubrey is in it. (If you've never seen her in "Still Crazy," please stop reading this now and go rent it.)
It's light-hearted, sci-fi adventure fare, with lovable characters and some unintentional silliness that keeps it as addictive as was "Land of the Lost." (er...that's the original, 1970s TV series, not the current remake).

Torchwood
From the opening episode, when the infinitely lovable Gwen (Eve Myles) accidentally sees a strange group of black coated people bringing a recent murder victim briefly back to life, you are hooked. Like Primeval, only grown up, "Torchwood" is all adult. With various sci-fi adventures mixed in with Captain Jack Harkness' (John Barrowman) sultry proclivity for handsome men, it's a nonstop thrillride.
Some episodes are brilliantly creative (especially those that rely on more intellectual weirdness), while others almost fall into the silly-special-effects-monster category. Still, I'm glued.

Gavin and Stacey
Like "Torchwood," this series is also shot in Wales. It looks so pretty there...but I digress. There's nothing ground breaking here in story. We follow a loving couple as they connect via telephone (they work for the same company: she's in a Wales branch, he's in London), fall in love, get married. But their respective best friends, Smithy and Nessa (played by writers James Cordon and Ruth Jones) are the real gems here. Says Nessa, "...all I want to do is go out, get shit faced, and have a curry or a fight down Caroline Street." Yep, she got me with that one.

I'll post more as we discover them. Know of any other must-see, British TV? Let us know, here at Salty Popcorn Reviews. Ta for that. Cheers.

The Best DVD Releases of 2009 so far…

So here we are already at the mid-year point of 09! How can this be? As our little blog rolls along we continue to try to give shakers as they are due. Take a walk through a chain video store and see the sheer avalanche of DVD releases out there- most sadly to say just suck. So here’s my year to date picks on the best disks so far- note these only indicate new releases of the past year and not old films re-released. I’d also like to give a shout out to the release of the final season of “The Wire” representing a new high in TV drama. (Though this blog doesn’t usually weigh in on TV shows)

Some of these flicks were reviewed or mentioned previously on this blog, many others weren’t but trust me- all of these are good viewing! (Sorry The Reader and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” didn’t make the cut for me) Also all of these should link back to their Netflix pages for easy queuing. Let’s hope the second half of the year has some more good ones (which will include the Sin Nombre and Star Trek releases of course)

1. Alexandra


2. Days and Clouds


3. Dear Zachary


4. Doubt


5. Eden


6. Frontline: Bush's War


7. Frost/Nixon


8. Frozen River


9. George Carlin: It's Bad for Ya! (His final HBO concert)


10. Gran Torino


11. Happy-Go-Lucky


12. Home


13. I've Loved You So Long


14. I.O.U.S.A.


15. In Bruges


16. Iron Man


17. John Adams (3-Disc Series)


18. Let the Right One In


19. Mamma Mia!


20. Milk


21. Rent: Filmed Live on Broadway


22. Revolutionary Road


23. Role Models


24. Slumdog Millionaire


25. Smart People


26. Step Brothers


27. W.


28. The Wackness


29. WALL-E


30. The Wrestler

Looking down on who we are

Whenever we see a good film – we are often pulled out of intense action with a visual God’s eye view- a long aerial shot that seems to put the intensity of the characters’ dilemmas into a wider perspective. Hitchcock in particular loved this technique. In the days of the silents of Eisenstein we would often have these wonderful visual montages later scored to beautiful music. The art of film seems purer when we see simple images and music. Great documentaries like Koyaanisqatsi. (And other films of Godfrey Reggio) take aerial and time lapse photography with music to a height when they are able to equate the activities of man to the production of hot dogs via simple visuals and editing.

Now to celebrate Earth Day we have “Home” a film released on DVD, in theaters and on the internet simultaneously this past earth day to provide a simple story. Master aerial photography by director Yann Arthus-Bertrand provides stunning visuals of earth as Glenn Close tells the story of our world which soon becomes a cautionary tale of exploitation and abuse.

I love to see things told in pure visuals and the great footage shot and scored tells the tale of our abuse of the earth in a far more impactful way then all the graphs of “An Inconvenient Truth” The God’s eye view makes this story stronger and more foreboding. A brilliant blend of science and art make for a great film for the mind and eye. The warnings hypnotic films like these continue to sound need to be addressed or our future is bleak.

The End of the Road- Cinema of the suburbs

“I don't want to live in a world without love or grief or beauty, I'd rather die.” - Becky in “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” (1956)

As World War II gave way to the Baby Boom and the housing experiment of Levittown gave birth to the suburbs, a whole new way of American life was created. The picturesque world of the perfect family in tidy homes was of course an ideal not quite the reality and post-war literature by authors like John Cheever were quick to point that out. Hitchcock’s “Shadow of a Doubt” showed us that well-mannered mass murderers lurked among us in small town, Norman Rockwell America even before the war had finished and the suburbs were created.

Ah the burbs! Mass produced homes with conformity hanging in the air like the smell of fresh cut grass. Cautionary suburban stories continue to sprout like home gardens usually featuring the repressed individual trying to break out of the rigid norms of their family or community. If films are the dreams of a society, the suburban angst film certainly show how the American Dream can sometimes mask a nightmare. The stereotypes are obvious: strong: driven, domineering wives, obsessed with homemaking, absent or drunken husbands usually unhappy in their work, raising spoiled, superficial children against a backdrop of mid-brow culture, marital friction, adultery, divorce, drug abuse, and occasional mental illness. This has been great fodder for inspired scripts warning of the blandness of an increasingly homogenized American culture. The metaphoric suburbs are an ideal setting for tales that warn that the lives of those in those nicely manicured homes are somehow less authentic than their urban and rural counterparts. The dysfunction, boredom and banality of life in these communities are an easy target and almost a clichéd genre. Yet when done correctly they can continue to make us fear the disengagement that becomes more prevalent with each passing year and new technology.

The brilliant original “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” had average small town folks transforming into unfeeling zombies right there in fifties perfect ‘Santa Mira’. “The Graduate” perfectly anticipated the youth movement of the sixties that rejected the homogenous suburban ‘successes’ of the postwar generation. (“I Love you, Alice B Tolklas!” then took it to the stoned extreme) By the seventies films like “The Stepford Wives”,“Over the Edge” (Matt Dillon’s film debut) and “Halloween” continued to warn that safety was just an illusion at the heart of the suburban myth. The conservative eighties delivered their punches with gently rebellious films such as “Ordinary People”, "A Nightmare on Elm Street", "Blue Velvet", “Desperately Seeking Susan”, "Fast Times at Ridgemont High", "The Burbs, "Heathers" and even “The Breakfast Club”. The nineties exploded with further examinations including: "Clerks", “Safe”, “Dazed and Confused”,” Welcome to the Dollhouse”, “Suburbia”, “Pleasantville” and Mendes' own “American Beauty”. The past decade has continued the trend with: “Donnie Darko”, “Ghost World”, "Little Children", ‘Little Miss Sunshine” and "Towelhead" among others.

So flashback to the postwar fifties and first-time novelist Richard Yates who cast his nervous eye on the emerging lifestyle as he saw it unfolding when he wrote “Revolutionary Road” first published in 1961. The title itself spoke as a warning since there was nothing revolutionary about suburban life; in fact it seemed to be the very death of the adventurous life and individualism that America was famous for. So although we’ve all seen many of the films I’ve noted, not to mention a slew of Lifetime movies set in these quiet neighborhoods, “Revolutionary Road” still feels as fresh and pertinent as when it was first written since it was still original and of its’ time.In fact the conformity of the fifties looks even more stifling as we look back on it a half century later.

As I’ve said so many films do present this setting as a cliché, so I was half expecting not to like this film which I thought might be a bunch of overwrought Oscar- bait. Happily I was wrong. Being a real work of literature rather than a 50’s soap opera script, “Revolutionary Road” was a novel aspiring to deeper truths. Sam Mendes and his whole creative team have taken this to heart by delivering a film not really about the suburbs but about relationships and the compromises they create. We first meet the Wheelers as they meet at a party in Greenwich Village where fifties hipsters are seen toking weed. Frank (Leonardo DiCaprio) seems to be buying into the Bohemian vibe by stating that he could care less about his job. April (Kate Winslet) is an aspiring actress and they immediately are attracted to each other. When we see them next she is in a shoddy community theater production of “Petrified Forest” and their argument in the car on the way home has her dreams dying before we have reached the opening credits. By the time they move to their suburban home on Revolutionary Road, in a Connecticut suburb of New York City, they have two children and Frank is working in the marketing department of a business machine company in the city, the same firm his father worked at. Their ideal dreams of their youth have not yet been packed away but they truly are both becoming just another suburban couple and they are neither happy nor communicating well.

As is obvious by now, I really identify with this genre being a suburban boy myself. My first job had me commuting into New York City (via Port Authority rather than Grand Central station as Frank does) and seeing those fifties businessmen in their matching suits and fedoras walking the walk stirred a feeling in me much like when we nod our head in recognition of George Romero’s zombies. No one wants to be predictable or conformist, but family life does mean making this sacrifice. Or does it? That is the main point of this film and it is wonderfully played.

Leo and Kate act their asses off and her Oscar for this was well earned. The supporting cast is also great; David Harbour and Kathryn Hahn are sympathetic and not caricatures as their less than supportive, bland suburban friends; Kathy Bates brings life to the role of Mrs. Givings, (how great is that name?) the annoying nosey neighbor, plus a great turn by Michael Shannon as her disturbed son who has had the strong impulse control of the place fried out of him by shock therapy treatment and therefore acts as the chorus of the Wheeler’s conscience. Sam Mendes nicely captures the claustrophobia and emotion of the piece and seeing April framed behind a picture window like a caged bird is tragic. I feel this should have beaten out ‘Slumdog’ for best film but perhaps we are still not ready to look inside our nice houses (or our souls) just quite yet. Turning a deaf ear is easier, much like how Mrs. Givings husband quietly turns off his hearing aid during her conformist rants.

Failed plots- the law of average

I had a friend tell me I was too tough on films in this blog. My response is that isn’t being critical the whole point here? I don’t think I am too critical; I just love good films and I’m here to save you time. When some fail or worse yet come out average, I have the time to sit through them and spare you. Obviously it’s only my opinion and there are thousands of other blogs and sources for you to look at if you disagree. Jessi also counters me sometimes, but she has her fingers in many creative pies and is currently saving our world and so she lets me ramble here. I always say it is somehow sadder for me when a film is just average. The ones that fail outright are at least adventurous and committed to a vision. The vast majority of films are just average (3 shakers) and so they are usually the result of compromise, playing it safe, or just telling a story that we’ve seen many times before without much originality. So in this post I’ll look at three such average Joes: a romcom, a crime story and a war flick.

Expecting nothing but a cute pic I saw “He’s Just Not That into You” with a female friend when it was still in theaters. The place was just packed with the females that were its target audience. I’m kind of glad my friend was with me because where I saw harmless fluff she was outraged by both the female characters onscreen and their live counterparts in our theater. The pic has interwoven stories featuring thirty-somethings coming to terms with their relationship status. Like most Hollywood films they all have perfect jobs, great clothes, beautiful homes and wonderful friends (hey just like the show “Friends” which also had Jennifer Anniston) but all they do is whine about their unhappy lives. Poor them!

The main character, Gigi (Ginnifer Goodwin) has been told since childhood that men act like jerks if they like you and she therefore continues to throw herself at douche yuppies with apropos names like Conor (Kevin Connolly). When the studly bar manager Alex (Justin Long of the Mac commercials) pities her and begins offering her detailed advice on male behavior, my friend and I wondered what was ridiculously obvious: “Gee I wonder if these two will fall in love?”

Meanwhile, Connor still has the hots for his girlfriend Anna (Scarlett Johansson) who is on the hunt for married man Ben (Bradley Cooper) whose friend Neil (Ben Affleck) has been dating Beth (Anniston) for seven years but she seems only now to be peer pressured to get married against his wishes. Ben’s wife Janine (Jennifer Connelly) is back at their townhouse doing extensive renovations. Probably a heavy-handed metaphor for all the wanna-be, nesting females here. You get the picture? As my friend pointed out all the females here cared about was the opposite sex, they seemed more like 16-year-olds than grown women. Goodwin’s character was an idiot and Johansson seemed sleepy. So how can a film for and about women be so misogynistic? Obviously the writers were just not that into you!

The crime film that averages out is one I thought might have some real grit since it was written and directed by a true life criminal. In “What Doesn’t Kill You” Brian Goodman plays a local Mafioso boss and wrote the screenplay based on his memories of life in the tough streets of south Boston. Brian (Mark Ruffalo) and Paulie (Ethan Hawke) are friends since childhood and do what they have to in order to survive. Petty crimes aren’t cutting it anymore and Brian needs to provide for his family, so tensions develop as the boys want to break out from under their boss's thumb. Brian then develops a (symptom free) coke habit but here the believability starts to strain. As Paulie plans for that one “big heist” that they need to retire both the film and his acting seems to become one big cliché. This film shot in stark winter is lean and mean and Ruffalo almost sells it, but for me it went nowhere, much like the lives of those it portrays.

Finally we have “Valkyrie” which has Tom Cruise playing beloved World War II German hero Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg. Do I have to go on here? Tom Cruise is a crazy dude and watching him become more erratic and fanatically Scientologist has been kind of a sad thing. When an actor so obviously manic speaks against psychotherapy it’s just bizarre. When he acts mad in his films he just seems like a little boy stomping his foot for his blankie. Like Richard Gere I think he is best when he plays against type as the heavy. The supporting cast is strong although they all speak in different accents (Kenneth Brannaugh, Terrence Stamp, Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkerson) which I know shouldn’t matter but between the star casting and the accents we already have more of a stagey less believable feel. Then there is the structure; it is played out in strict chronological order and played seemingly for suspense. This is odd since we obviously know Hitler was not assassinated and therefore it’s tough to get to that tension. I’ve seen many more effective films like this that would frame the film as the main characters are about to be executed and work it in flashbacks. The structure and lead can’t take away from the nice location shooting though; many scenes were shot in their actual locations. I can imagine an older Germans’ blood would run cold as they past a an old Nazi building again being filmed draped in Swastikas so perhaps this whole film was just a bad idea about a good idea.