Weekend Forecast: 3/7/08
By Craig Kennedy - March 6th, 2008; 12:01 am
Jason Statham in The Bank Job
The weekend is nearly upon us so it must be time for another Weekend Forecast. Here’s what’s opening this weekend in wide release:
- 10,000 B.C. 990,000 years after Raquel Welch wore mankind’s first bikini comes this bloated CGI PG-13 crapfest about a primitive warrior out to rescue the princess of his dreams. Armed only with a copy of Joseph Campbell’s The Power of Myth, he wanders the CGI landscape fighting CGI saber tooth tigers, CGI woolly mammoths and what appear to be CGI Egyptians. Roland Emmerich has never made a movie that didn’t suck and I have no reason to believe this is an exception.
- The Bank Job. If you want me to come see your movie, make it a heist movie and give it a simple title that lets me know right away what we’re talking about. Then, just to make sure you seal the deal, give it an interesting milieu like, oh I don’t know, London in the early 1970s. Roger Donaldson (The Bounty, No Way Out, The World’s Fastest Indian) has done just that and I’m hooked regardless of the outcome. I’m guessing it’ll be mediocre at best, but whatever. Jason Statham and Saffron Burrows star. Based on a true story.
- College Road Trip. When I think of a college road trip, I think of booze and sex and possibly some LSD. This is a G rated family comedy starring Martin Lawrence and Raven Symone which is exactly the opposite of what I just described. That’s all I have to say about that.
The limited releases:
- Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. Yeah, I already took a ration of crap for liking the trailer to this one. Bite me. You remember, it’s the screwball looking comedy with the annoying literary title where Frances McDormand is a middle-aged governess in London in the ’30s employed by wild living American starlet Amy Adams. It’s opening on approximately 500 screens so it should be in most cities of any size.
- CJ7. Stephen Chow (Kung Fu Hustle, Shaolin Soccer) writes directs and stars in this children’s sci-fi comedy/fantasy about some kind of weird Pokémon looking thing from outer space so when I tell you it looks like a turd, Chow takes all the blame. Then again, I’m the guy who’s going to see Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day and The Bank Job this weekend so take that opinion for what it’s worth.
- Girls Rock! I already knew girls were soft and pretty and they smelled nice and now I find out they rock too. I’m not sure my tiny little mind can take it. First there is 15-year-old Laura, an adopted Korean from Oklahoma with a death metal fascination. She’s a singer. Next is 17-year-old Misty who used to be a homeless meth addict. Now she plays bass. 8-year-old Amelia plays guitar and is writing a 14-song cycle about her Chihuahua. Meanwhile, 7-year-old Palace is a singer into heavy metal. What do all these girls have in common? They’re all in a band at Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp for Girls. This is a documentary about them and I want it to be awesome. Go watch the trailer then come back and try to tell me that girls do not rock.
- Married Life. Ira Sachs has assembled a terrific cast for this black comedy noir including Patricia Clarkson, Rachel McAdams, Chris Cooper and Pierce Brosnan. After a lifetime happily married to Clarkson, Cooper begins an affair with McAdams. In order to spare Clarkson the pain of divorce, he decides to murder her. Meanwhile, best friend Brosnan has his eye on McAdams as well. Methinks it’s going to get messy before it’s all over. You had me at “black comedy noir.”
Here are a few that are opening in New York only and will open elsewhere as noted:
- Blindsight (opened NY on 3/5; expands 3/14) Documentary about six blind Tibetan teenagers climbing Mt. Everest. I have a hard time just getting out of bed in the morning and I can see.
- Paranoid Park (LA 3/14) Gus Van Sant’s latest foray into adolescence is about a Portland skater teen who accidentally kills a security guard and must come to terms with what he’s done. The horror…the horror!
- Snow Angels (LA 3/14; Expands 3/21) David Gordon Green (All the Real Girls) adapts Stewart O’Nan’s novel featuring three connected stories of people at various stages in life. There is a first romance for an awkward teen; there are his divorcing parents; and there is his former babysitter, a single mother trying to put her life together while the father of her child tries to reconnect. Oh yeah, there’s also a tragic accident of some kind. Sam Rockwell, Kate Beckinsale, Griffin Dunne, Amy Sedaris, Michael Angarano and Olivia Thirlby star.
- Fighting for Life (LA 3/21) Documentary about doctors and nurses saving lives in the Iraq war.
Finally, here are a few more that are either premiering in LA or are coming to LA after opening elsewhere:
- Last Stop for Paul. Bona fide indie comedy drama about two friends traveling around the world to spread the ashes of their dead friend.
- My Name is Albert Ayler. Documentary about the innovative but little known jazz saxophonist.
- Burning the Future: Coal in America. Eco-minded documentary about coal mining in West Virginia opened in NY on 2/29 and opens in LA this weekend.
Filed under: Upcoming
Obviously I’m bucking some kind of trend, but I actually have enjoyed almost every movie that Roland Emmerich has made – I didn’t like Godzilla, but I thoroughly liked Independence Day and thought The Day After Tomorrow was really just fine. So I’ll be seeing 10000BC expecting a perfectly good little fantasy adventure. So there.
I’ll…be skipping 10.000 BC (those kind of crappy films DO come out pretty much simultaneously here, ironically. it’ll be here next week). But The Bank Job has me intrigued and Married Life could be fun – of course, I’ll have to wait until July for those two.
New in Dutch cinemas this week: Rendition (which I have zero interest in), 27 dresses (meh), but also Naissance Des Pieuvres/Water Lilies, an absolute gem of a film about how tough it is to be a 15 yo girl I can recommend to everyone, an ok-ish Dutch film called Tiramisu and the great Swedish film Du Levande/You, the Living. Also: a revival of Professione:Reporter / The Passenger. So it’s not too tough to be a Dutchie this week
Same here Hedwig! Always get the crap at the same time as our friends in the US.
Of all the films you listed, I am interested in seeing Miss Petigrew, Paranoid Park, Snow Angels and Married Life. And maybe Last Stop for Paul, but I guess I will never really get to see that one.
In terms of movies releasing near me, I could see the {hopefully} good (TWBB, The Savages, Sicko, Charlie Wilson’s War) and the films I think I will be skipping (Fools Gold, Pride, The Waterhorse).
I just bought tickets for Gus Vant Sant’s PARANOID PARK for Saturday night at the Angelika in Manhattan. This is surely by way of critical praise the movie to see this weekend–even the usually cynical and resistent Time Out New York gave it a stellar notice.
10,000 BC may be a good one for the kids on Sat. afternoon in our local multiplex. But I hope to catch up with THE YEAR MY PARENTS WENT ON VACATION on Friday night, if possible.
@ Sam: I liked Paranoid Park. It’s an absorbing, meditative experience with great use of sound in particular, and van Sant does now how to photograph ‘real’ teenagers. Still, it felt a little like he was repeating himself. Portland again, lanky, passive teens again, Eliott Smith again…
The movie’s absolutely worth seeing, even worth seeing in the cinema: the DP’s Christopher Doyle, after all, and I can imagine you need the cinema environment to truly be immersed. However, after the beauty and clarity of Elephant, Gerry and Last Days, it was a bit of a letdown.
(yes, I liked Gerry. Loved it, even. Yet another film that uses music by Arvo Pärt, and to great effect)
Thanks for that most perceptive heads up Hedwig. Like you I revere ELEPHANT, but not LAST DAYS so much. But of course his early gems DRUGSTORE COWBOY and MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO still resonate. What you say here sounds just about what I will be seeing.
Either Jeff is kidding or he’s left himself wide open on the Roland front. Since Emmerich’s movies have incredible unintended comedic value (almost as funny to watch as Battlefield Earth…almost) I’m going to let it slide, but even the fanboy reviews at AICN are panning this one so he’s definitely way out on the limb. You have to appreciate the audacity behind any movie that ignores scientific record, history, geography, common sense, and quality CGI in just the trailer alone. Or not.
Good luck Jeff. I fear for you.
The Heist feels like a DVD rental to me and so does Ms Pettigrew, although I admit to being curious about both although my expectations are very low for either. I have a lot of love for Amy Adams and Frances McDormand, AKA the wife of an Oscar-winning Best Picture/Best Director/Best Writer Coen Brother.
I couldn’t get behind Last Days or Elephant to any great extent, so I’m hesitant to even try Paranoid Park but the critical response, the Portland setting, and Christopher Doyle all make me curious.
Girls Rock opens here this weekend and the trailer was great but this a doc I’m more likely to see on DVD. I do want to see Snow Angels…but it’s not opening here yet.
I’m looking forward to “The Bank Job,” being a huge fan of Ms. Burrows (Has anyone seen her in “Miss Julie”? She has some major acting chops; too bad most directors don’t know quite what to do with her).
Re Paranoid Park…I’ve consciously avoided it because of the “real” teenagers thing you mention, Hedwig. However, I might have to give it a chance…I wasn’t particularly crazy about “Elephant” but found it, overall, an effective, pensive film. I did enjoy “Last Days” however, and thought it had one of the most unabashedly poetic endings in recent film history.
I’ll see 10,000 BC only because it’ll be interesting to see what kind of landscapes they create. I’m sure the characters speak English or something ridiculous. I’ll regret it. Somebody talk me out of it, please.
Definitely interested in The Bank Job, and I also get The Counterfeiters this weekend. I’ll definitely be at Paranoid Park when it opens, though I didn’t enjoyed Elephant so much as I did Gerry. Of course, I’m saying that now after Casey Affleck won me over as Robert Ford. Before that I had completely forgotten about Gerry.
Since when is a March opening weekend so busy? My theater budget is remaining as steady as it was in December. Aargh, I hope it’s worth it.
Ah, Hedwig, another Arvo Pärt aficionado. I’ve performed many of his sacred compositions. Stunning music. :-)
I actually didn’t even need to read the blurbs to know that I wasn’t going to be seeing 10,000 BC or College Road Trip. Seeing the television commercial for the latter was enough.
I’m definitely interested in The Bank Job and Paranoid Park. Though I’m still behind on movies like The Year My Parents Went on Vacation, which is playing right near me. I’ve also yet to see The Counterfeiters and The Band’s Visit. And the second one is playing in the IFC theater. I better haul my ass over there before Lackluster has the monopoly on it.
Damn, only March and I’m already falling behind.
I love unassuming genre pictures, and Donaldson can deliver just that when he’s on. Count me in for The Bank Job, which I’ll probably catch in a double with the still unseen by me In Bruges.
I’m betting Paranoid Park will be unavailable to me for a while, though I want to see it. I respect Van Sant’s nothing happens until we die series more than I actually like them, with the exception being Elephant, which I found devastating.
Daniel, I hate to recommend any reviews at AICN but here’s three reasons not to see 10KBC:
http://www.aintitcool.com/node/35836
http://www.aintitcool.com/node/35838
Although I have to admit, Emmerich’s movies are always a good excuse for a late night laugh when they show up on cable. He has a profound lack of respect for acting, character development, and narrative continuity. He and Bay are both competing for the same prize.
The good thing about commenting first Jeff is there is no trend to buck. You started the Emmerich doesn’t suck campaign and it looks like you have followers.
They whys and wherefores of what some people like and some people don’t remain a mystery to me and that’s as it should be.
Hedwig, you seem to be in a sweet spot where at least you get a lot of non-US films before we do. I’d guess many of them never make it this way. Plus I’m having to wait for a couple of things I want to see as well. Bested by New York AGAIN!!
Besides Pettigrew and Bank and Girls Rock, I’m interested in Paranoid Park and Snow Angels but they’re not coming until next week.
I’m a little sketchy on Snow Angels but I’m intrigued by the cast of Sam Rockwell and Kate Beckinsale.
I join Alison in being behind on Counterfieters and Year My Parents Went on Vacation. They were both on my list for a midweek screening but I saw two other films instead and wish now that I hadn’t.
Otherwise, I’m finally catching up to Rescue Dawn on DVD this weekend.
I’m on the fence about Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day after seeing the trailer and commercials. But I will probably see it because of Frances McDormand and Amy Adams.
I’m giving the movie a hard time because I don’t like Roland Emmerich at all or his movies but I’m sure Jeff doesn’t really care about my opinion on it all that much. It’s good-natured drubbing at best.
Part of me secretly wishes I had a wider latitude for true popcorn entertainment, but I don’t. Makes surviving summer movie-going a pain in the ass.
I’m with you on the filler entertainment (and Emmerich…I didn’t even like ID4) Joel, though not every movie has to be an intellectual exercise. When it comes to pure entertainment, like comedy, there’s a wide variance of opinion.
I’m kinda on the fence too Alison, but defensively so. If the cast were different, I’d be mocking the movie probably. As it is, I freely admit I’ll probably be burned if I see it.
Alison, I do urge you to see THE BAND’S VISIT and THE COUNTERFEITORS, as both are pretty exceptional, but others here have said as much, including Craig, who reviewed the former. I may be able to catch VACATION tonite with a little bit of luck, although I must see the Rivette film THE DUTCHESS……….ASAP.
I haven’t been able to fully check my brain at the door for a long time, Craig, but then again I also don’t think spending $100+ million dollars on a movie with a script I could have written in junior high is something I need to applaud or support. I probably would have enjoyed 10,000 B.C. when I was 13 years old, but my tastes and expectations have changed since then on numerous things. I don’t regret that.
Since Hollywood clearly isn’t suffering from the lack of my popcorn movie ticket-buying dollars, I don’t think it really matters either.
I actually don’t readily see movies in the theatre outside of the Oscar contender release crunch. So my threshold of confidence in a film needs to be fairly high to take the leap. What I see here with the exception of Paranoid Park isn’t tempting.
Good for jeff if he enjoys Emmerich’s films. But like many others here his work isn’t to my taste, in fact his name, like Michael Bay’s, has become synonymous for me with artless, effects/action set piece heavy, and dumb with a capital D blockbusters.
I’m keen to hear what people think of the Bank Job (a likely DVD candidate). I enjoy heist movies and Saffron Burrows isn’t just a fine but criminally underused actress as Dorothy pointed out, she’s also someone I never tire of looking at.
Thanks for those links, Joel. The first few lines of each might have done the trick for me.
i always hesitate to put too much stake in any reviews on that site, especially the reader-reviews, but those all seem to reinforce my impressions of the trailer so I decided to pass them along.
Who knows? They could be annoying curmudgeons like me and you’ll find a lot of fun to enjoy in the movie.
Joel, not to be a snob, but if 10,000 BC doesn’t work for AICN, then it doesn’t work for anybody.
Great point, Chuck. AICN finds something to like about everything. So if they didn’t like this…
I would also like to add, ten comments too late, that I back Craig on his thinking that Pettigrew might turn out to be something. I didn’t think the trailer was bad either, and McDormand’s partcipation more often than not signifies that the picture in question is at least a mild cut above the usual business.
And we need more delightful nonsense dammit!
I’d add to that Pettigrew comment from Chuck that I read an interview with Amy Adams where she mentioned that McDormand was actually heavily involved in the production of the film, which implies to me that there’s a good chance the film was made with better than average intentions. Whether it pans out or not is an entirely different story, but it makes me feel more confident about it.
Count me in for both the testosterone (The Bank Job) and the estrogen (Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day). They both look like solid genre entries and I like the trailer for Pettigrew (never seen a trailer or even an ad for The Bank Job). My girlfriend definitely wants to see Pettigrew, and I’m on board so what’s to not like? Also, maybe Ciaran Hinds has finally found a film where he *doesn’t have to violently die in it!* I swear, that guy, if he ever becomes a big star, can laugh about all the movies he was in as a character actor where he was offed in. Looks like here all he has to worry about is a piece of pie landing on his shoe, heh.
I’ll probably see Paranoid Park, too, when it eventually comes around here, though like joel I can’t say any of van Sant’s recent batch of films have done too much for me. I keep hoping his next will be different. After Elephant and Last Days, I sort of feel like the odds of that happening are somewhat unlikely.
Roland Emmerich somehow seems like a notch below even Michael Bay for some reason. Maybe it’s because Bay at least has carved out some kind of vaguely singular stylistic technique whereas Emmerich seems entirely artless in all things to me. The ads and trailer for 10,000 look rather… awful. The exchange between Daniel, joel and Chuck was funny. “Somebody talk me out of it,” ahaha.
Snow Angels looks all right. I also–maybe I’m just desperate for some good movies in March–thought that trailer for SleepWalking was okay, though nothing great at all on its own.
I’m going to see The Band’s Visit later today in Mill Valley.
My favorite film this year thus far, I guess, would have to be In Bruges. It somehow deftly simultaneously embraced and avoided a great many “black comedy about hitmen” cliches. And the three leading guys all gave strong performances.
Maybe it’s sheer envy on my part, tho I like to think I’m bigger than that, but the fact that scripts like this get greenlit and made makes me think I should not be here in la-la-ville striving for something…not shitty.
So thanks to some wonderful little drama-angels in life, I am not going to school tomorrow, which means I will be seeing all those good films I mentioned earlier on in this thread.
I am not on the fence about Miss Petigrew, I am so in for that one.
I wasn’t kidding earlier – I think Emmerich is actually a competent director and a good storyteller, which puts him way above the likes of Michael Bay.
And so the reluctant Miss Pettigrew army begins to build…mwahahahahhaahhah
Bay vs. Emmerich. I actively hate Michael Bay. I didn’t even like that shitty commercial he was in that was supposedly self-mocking…don’t even remember what the product was. Emmerich, I simply haven’t liked anything of his I’ve seen. I’m not even prepared to say it’s his fault. I haven’t seen anything of his since he split with Dean Devlin, so maybe Devlin was to blame.
@ Alexander: I saw In Bruges yesterday, quite liked it, too (And talk about a violent death for Ciaran…but he doesn’t die in TWBB, does he?). The problem is, it’s a dark comedy that – while it has some dark humor – doesn’t so much insert comedy into the violence and nihilism as it alternates between one and the other. It wasn’t tonally consistent… but Farell’s bushy eyebrows and Brendon Gleesons general awesomeness made up for a lot.
Also, Emmerich? Meh. I can actually appreciate the pure aciton movie thrill of ID4, but I don’t think I’d ever want to pay 8 bucks to go see his latest concoction. Which apparent works quite well as a comedy.
It feels like I’m a little slow to get going on the 2008 releases, but in retrospect I think the 2008 new releases are a little slow to get going on ME.
The Band’s Visit is the best so far, followed by the neck-and-neck In Bruges and (I know I know) Definitely, Maybe. I don’t expect either of the latter will stick with me by the time the real movie season rolls around in September.
I agree that THE BAND’S VISIT is the best film of 2008 so far.
Thanks for reminding me of that, I think I might head out tonight and finally see The Band’s Visit.
Just came home from The Band’s Visit and loved it completely. Wow, what a charming film. Your Jarmusch comparison is apt, even though as you noted at the time, Craig, it is different from Jarmusch, too. Great film and as you say, Craig, it now joins In Bruges as a film from 2008 that I’ll remember fondly. The one sequence where Papi is “taught” what to do for the disconcerted girl alone was head and shoulders above anything in Lost in Translation, for instance.
Hedwig, haha, you’re right, Hinds didn’t suffer any violence in There Will Be Blood but boy I sure wish he had been given just a couple more lines in that one.
I actually liked how In Bruges managed its inconsistencies as you point out, Hedwig. In that way it felt like a distant cousin of an Alfred Hitchcock effort, like Frenzy, for instance, though obviously different in its “postmodernism,” so to speak (which I realize can mean a many different things to many people… especially if your name is Hickenlooper) and, as I said in my earlier post, its obvious familial relationship with other partly comedic hitmen yarns.
My favorite part about that scene you mention Alexander is how Khaled you assume is going to be the immature, wild, lady’s man who gets everyone in trouble, but he just enjoys the moment, vicariously appreciating a budding romance.
One of many small, nice moments in the film.
Very true, Craig. Great touches abounded in The Band’s Visit.
It’s rather amazing how apolitical it is. The only conspicuous touch of geopoliticis that made its way was that little moment where one of the Egyptians places his hat over the picture of the Israeli tank.
The film seemed to always be carefully balanced between being jocund and melancholy.
Insightful analysis there (above) about THE BAND’S VISIT……….
Manola Dargis issued effusive parise this morning for PARANOID PARK in a superlative review in The New York Times. Earlier in the week, J. Hoberman was just as estatic in the Village Voice. These particular opinions are quite significant.
10,000 BC is doing 12% at RT. That is about as awful as you will ever see on the site. A boycott of this film is most warranted at this point.
The Band’s Visit opens soon in SA, definitely one I want to see.
I just saw TWBB, and I now feel like I have no idea what to do with myself. I have seen the two films I wanted to see the most in 2007, and I am in awe of them, and just cannot bring myself to do anything else but think about them. I cannot talk about them, but I can picture them in my head, replaying certain scenes over and over in my head. I must just say that Blood did not sit well with anyone else in the audience. I was quite pissed off actually, people were talking on their cell phones, people were walking out of the cinema, getting on my nerves! Luckily the score was so powerful, it blocked out most of the indecency of the audience. I cannot wait to visit it again, but in time. Not too soon.
I was given Zodiac on DVD by some random person in the video store, said I could just ‘have’ it. So I will also be re-visiting that tonight, if I can tear myself away from my thoughts for an hour or two.
Here is the beginning of Ms. Dargis’ NEW YORK TIMES review on PARANOID PARK:
“Paranoid Park is a swooping skateboarding free zone where young men learn to fly. It’s also the title of Gus Van Sant’s most recent film, a haunting, voluptuously beautiful portrait of a teenage boy, who after being suddenly caught in midflight, falls to earth. Like most of Mr. Van Sant’s films ‘Paranoid Park’ is about bodies at rest and in motion, and about longing, beauty, youth and death, and as such as much about the artist as his subject. It is a modestly scaled triumph without a false or wasted moment.”
Ms. Dargis then makes a strong case in her subsequently effusive appraisal for the great influence that Bela Tarr has had on Van Sant’s most recent “artistic renaissance.”
Can’t wait for tomorrow night.
Manohla has a way of transforming a movie review into poetry. I think if she were properly inspired, she could make Norbit sound enticing.
I just checked and Paranoid Park doesn’t open here for another two weeks, so I’ll just have to fan the flames of my burgeoning interest and wait. Needless to say, the critical response is starting to get me excited about it.
Joel: You must consider moving to the New York area! LOL!
I completely agree with you on what you say here about Manohla.
“Manohla has a way of transforming a movie review into poetry. I think if she were properly inspired, she could make Norbit sound enticing.”
Beautifully said.
And Sam, thanks for pointing Manohla’s reaction out. It whets my appetite for a film I’ll likely see this weekend too.
Nick. The only thing to do with yourself is to turn around and go seem them again! Make it a double feature. (PS, Glad you were blown away)
In a global Internet sense it doesn’t much matter, but I regret that the NY Times stole Manohla from the LA Times. Having said that, I can’t read her review of the movie until I see it. With her I find it’s rare that she really likes a movie and I don’t, though it’s not uncommon for her to dislike one that I admire.
Alexander, I assume you’ll agree the apolitical nature of Band makes it all the better. The politics are always there in the background, but really the movie thrives on personal moments that occur despite the politics.
Couldn’t agree more, Craig. What is left unsaid/unseen is just as important as what is said and seen.
By the way, what’s the secret in using italics in these parts? :-)
Well, I am hopeful regarding Paranoid Park.
Interesting how even though it’s going to be a bit more “mainstream” for van Sant, even Milk really continues his theme of “nothing happens until we die.”
for italics, start with < i > and end with < / i > (minus the spaces). For bold, do the same thing but with b instead of i.
Craig, Manohla is real tough, so I can well understand her disliking some movies you like. Perhaps the Voice is even more difficult to please though. True, she is LA’s loss and NY’s gain, though again the internet access evens things out. She is an excellent writer, perhaps as good as Scott.
Thanks Sartre, I’d love to compare notes with you on Monday. Enjoy.
The only critics I mistrust are ones who fawn over movies I can’t stand. I don’t think Manohla has ever done that. Plus, as others have mentioned, I like her writerly style.
Manohla has a way of transforming a movie review into poetry. I think if she were properly inspired, she could make Norbit sound enticing.
LOL, Joel. Making Norbit sound enticing would indeed be an stunning accomplishment in movie review writing.
Thanks, Craig. I promise to never overuse that! ;-)
Interestingly, I’ve read Armond White’s review of Norbit and he’s come the closest to making it sound even remotely feasible for me to eventually see it one day. And yet… he also liked Little Man and he’s crazy.
Would this make White a critic you mistrust, Craig?
I think he was probably the one critic in America who lauded Norbit and panned Zodiac just about a year ago.
Like Kael before them I don’t mind whether or not I ultimately agree with their appraisals of a film, I get off on reading the quality of Manohla’s and Scott’s writing and ability on occasions to introduce a new way of thinking about films.
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Curious you mention that about the Village Voice, Sam. I find their opinions about film to be less consistently in line with mine or critics in general. I don’t read the publication regularly enough to have cemented my opinion one way or the other. I only grab their reviews occasionally from RT or Metacritic.
I’ve noticed that local weeklies similar to the Voice, like Seattle’s Stranger or Portland’s Mercury, typically take the contrarian opinion on films that are critical darlings of the mainstream media. My guess is that they are posturing for the sake of being cool or different in an attempt to stand out from the crowd. I have little patience for that.
Although there were things I didn’t like about Elephant and Last Days, there were enough things that I did like for the positive response to Paranoid Park to make me curious enough to give it a shot.
I’m an Elliot Smith fan, so I’ll be fine with the soundtrack. ; )
I don’t read White often Alexander for just that reason. When I do, it’s because he’s often entertaining and not because I value his opinion. Even shit can look like chocolate frosting.
Ok, that’s absolutely my last fecal reference for one week. I swear.
Off-topic: CJ is a clown not fit to bring Poland his banana daiquiris? Pshaw. You don’t need to bring anyone banana daiquiris, Craig. You have your own team of trained monkeys and dammit they bring you banana daiquiris.
Back on topic: The Band’s Visit is playing a block away from my apartment. I will be making it my business to see this fine film this weekend.
Craig: I completely agree with you on Armond White, and I will support your fecal reference too!
Joel: I rarely agree with the Voice either, I was just making lamentable reference to their “99% of everything stinks” critical appraisals. Like Tiime Out, their critics seem to be of the opinion that by hating or being indifferent to 48 out of every 50 movies they see or thereabouts, this seems to make them more worthy as film critics. I have always believed myself that in large measure it is far harder to write a good review than it is a bad one. But I’ll leave that for now.
The best American film critic now and during his long tenure at The New Republic is undoubtably Stanley Kauffmann, the dean of American film criticism. He is (astonishingly nearing 94 years of age and is still the top man at TNR) Only Kael, Dwight McDonald, Sarris and Simon were in his league, and Agee and Tyler before that. Kauffmann vast knowledge of the arts, years as a university film professor, many books on his reviews (and novels) and his eloquent, erodite style have made reading his review an experience in itself. His theatre backround and full knowledge of the value of acting as a film component is singular. He is one of the toughest for sure, and you don’t always agree with him (he disliked both GODFATHER and GODFATHER II for example and refers to the Coen Bothers as “those arty nuisances”) but his analytical treatices on Antonioni, Bergman, Buneul et al are peerless. His reviews and films-worth-seeing list are still there every week in TNR. I can only (honestly) place Ms. Kael on his absolute level of greatness.
And of course, while I feel strongly about these sentiments, they are still only my opinion of course.
Alison, please tell us what you think of BAND’S VISIT. Craig wrote a great review of it last week, and several others have given it a strong thumbs-up.
The Band’s Visit is officially the must see movie of the month, it seems. I caught it last weekend and gave it an “A” as well. According to my math, it’s tops of the year so far along with City of Men. Of course, Visit counts for 2007, so its post-release buzz will unfortunately lead to…nothing.
Factually Alison, they bring me Manhattans and comfy slippers, but your point is well taken and appreciated. I also look forward to hearing your take on The Band’s Visit. Beware of too much hype. As has been said elsewhere, it’s a small movie best enjoyed without the weight of expectations.
SF Chronicle’s Peter Hartlaub has fun with 10,000 BC.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/07/DDREVET49.DTL&type=movies
Hey Nick, when are we going to see a review of “There Will Be Blood?”
Well, I try to keep up with Armond White every week. He can be, for all of his smarts, rather lazy, particularly with films that don’t attract either outright hatred or love. (3:10 to Yuma comes to mind.) But he’s highly entertaining and when he’s good, he’s great–which usually corresponds with his pointed assaults on movies he detests on moral grounds, but even more so films he truly and deeply worships.
He’s kind of predictable in a sense, with his favorite filmmakers always pitted against his most loathed, but when he gets it right (Spielberg, Coens, ’70s Coppola, etc.) he really gets it right.
10,000 B.C. may indeed be the Ben-Hur or All About Eve of the Raspberries.
Critics I trust… well, Craig, you’re definitely high on that list.
All flattery aside, I have to say, my preferences fluctuate quite a bit. I like Manohla, but only when she really gets into it like she did with Paranoid Park. One of my favorite reviewers used to be MaryAnn Johansson aka. the Flick Filosopher, but I feel we’ve grown apart. *snif*. Now, I only really pay heed to her opinion when she surprises me. For instance, she really has no patience for rom-coms, but she gave Definitely, Maybe not just a good but a lyrical review – together with your positive take, Craig, that makes this a must-see.
Also, I do love the Filmspotting guys. I still miss Sam, but bit by bit I’ve grown fond of Matty, too (though his habit of calling actors by nicknames, i.e. referring to Jimmy Stewart and Bobby DeNiro, still bugs me). The nice thing about the podcasting format is that you get real discussions about movies. It may be less literary, but it can be a lot more fun, especially when the presenters vehemently disagree (check out the notorious “battle of The Lake House if you don’t believe me).
Yeah Nick, what Matthew said.
Sartre. The only good things about bad movies are funny reviews. Heh heh “Mammoth related violence”
Alexander. White can be very funny, even when I don’t agree with him…yet he can also be very irritating. Most recently his review of Jesse James irritated me to no end.
Hedwig. Coming from the only person I know who’s ever been in the Washington Times, I accept your flattery and I say “right back at ya.”
Criticism is a strange business. I’m not so much looking for a critic’s opinion as I am how it’s expressed. If I’m on the fence about a movie, the weight of critical opinion has an impact, but it’s not necessarily the deciding factor.
I’m rambling again.
Sidenote: I’m belatedly reading a bunch of Pauline Kael. Should be fun.
I was soured on Mary Ann Johanson the instant she gave a good review to Flyboys, my most hated movie of ‘06.
And the bitter taste still hasn’t been washed out of your mouth. I’m almost curious to see it.
I can see why I person would enjoy it as a guilty pleasure, but they would have to admit to the guilt.
You’ll see one soon, I am in the middle of writing it ;)
I look forward to reading it Nick. :-)
As to the possibility of having high expectations for THE BAND’S VISIT, and ultimately getting less I will say that (apart from the spectacular reviews it has received in the US and worldwide; an astounding 97% on RT, basically matching PAN’S LABYRINTH and with a terrific composite rating of close to 8.0) the films resonates in a most extraordinary way in exploring humanity (deftly) It is a small film by way of filmaking style and pared down drama, but it’s message and ultimate worth transcend the vast majority of films that seem to aspire to more. I knew of the film’s superlative reputation when I went in, and I got not an ounce less than that after I exited.
You may well be right Sam, but I always find it safest to temper expectations. The rule doesn’t always prove out, but many many movies sag under the weight of the hype. If the movie doesn’t cure cancer, it’s a disappointment.
You’re right about the huge themes of Band, however they’re very subtly asserted. They’re there, but their message isn’t delivered by shovel blow to the noggin like you’d get in a typcial Paul Haggis film.
Well said Craig, I agree with you here.