The Watercooler: 11/24/08
Things are a little crazy around the LiC head offices as the Thanksgiving holiday approaches, but the monkeys and I did have a chance to catch a screening of Gus Van Sant’s Milk starring Sean Penn as the first openly gay man elected to major public office in the United States on Sunday night. I don’t know if it was the specter of the recent passing of Proposition 8 (which stripped the civil rights of millions of gay Californians) hanging over the film or if it was just good writing, great acting and a terrific story, but Milk is one of the better movies of the year and I’ll be surprised and a little disappointed if Sean Penn doesn’t end up getting nominated for an Oscar.
The sad thing is that the 6,434,312 bigots who voted for Proposition 8 on November 4th hid behind the same fears that were rejected 30 years ago when a proposition to mandate the firing of gay schoolteachers in California was voted down.
Some things have changed, but many others have stayed the same.
Milk opens this Wednesday, one day before the 30th anniversary of the assassination of Harvey Milk and San Francisco Mayor George Moscone by City Supervisor Dan White.
Filed under: Watercooler
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Great great new Craig about MILK! I have my Thanksgiving Day tickets ready. I have a stromng felling you have hit the nail on the head with it.
I saw a Brian Wilson concert, two very good plays and a stupendous Berlioz opera at the Met this week, but still managed to see three films:
Eden (Tuesday night) *** 1/2
Twilight (Friday night) ***
Bolt (Friday night) *** 1/2
Perhaps I’ll have more to say later about these, but I’d like to add that the TWILIGHT show turned into an event, as the theatre was filled with teenage girls, who scream in unision throughout the film. Looks like a Harry Potter franchise in the making here.
“…the TWILIGHT show turned into an event, as the theatre was filled with teenage girls, who scream in unision throughout the film.”
While I am sure I was plenty silly as a teenage girl (a minor infatuation with Patrick Swayze in Dirty Dancing and North and South comes to mind), I take pride in the fact that I never screamed in a theater en masse when the object of my affection came on screen. I think I’m more of a swooner.
Happy to hear you liked Milk so much, Craig. I’m really looking forward to that one, expecting it to be an Oscar contender, but not a frontrunner.
I only watched a couple of DVDs. Friday night was The Cooler. I’d never seen it, and thought it was quite good even if the ending was unnecessarily facile and contrived. Maria Bello was great and I always like William H. Macy. Alec Baldwin was excellent, too, but since he’s had such a resurgence of late it didn’t seem as much of a standout as it probably seemed at the time.
Then last night I watched The Broadway Melody. Pretty dated now, but considering some of the reviews I had read, was significantly better than I had expected. I think if I hadn’t known it was MGM’s first entry into the world of sound it would have been less tolerable, particularly the cacophony of the opening scenes. Interesting how many different sound effects (including an unfortunate amount of screen time given to an apparently hilarious stutterer) they manage to include, how any scenes without dialogue have a complete absence of sound and how they still use title cards between some scenes.
Best of all though, was the completely surreal 16-minute bonus feature, MGM’s contemporary sister production, The Dogway Melody, a re-enactment of the film by dogs in costume. You guys have probably all seen it, but it was new to me and my feller. I couldn’t decide if it shows how much times have changed, or how little. I found a clip from it on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOXHtRsTtk0
I imagine Milk is going to be mobbed here next weekend, but I’d like to see it. Glad to hear you liked it. Can’t wait to stop seeing the trailer in theaters (I think I’ve seen it about a dozen or thirty times now).
I watched Wall-E this weekend, which held up magnificently on a second viewing. It’s quickly becoming a very popular movie in the household, mostly for it’s sweetness and the irresistible love affair between Wall-E and EVE. I also watched the lion’s share of the DVD extras as well as the Pixar Story doc (excellent doc, by the way). Good times. Pixar never ceases to amaze me with their dedication to making each release as good as they possibly can. If only Hollywood in general cared this much about making good movies…just imagine.
Also saw Synecdoche, New York, which I’m still churning in my head. I think I’ll end up liking it, but I think I’m going to have to see it again.
Before SNY, I saw JCVD. Odd movie, to say the least. On one hand, it’s Jean Claude Van Damme’s mea culpa statement to his fans and the world at large, a desperate plea to be taken seriously and a serious apology for wasting his career and life. On the other hand, the entire thing is extremely self-serving, a bit of a vanity piece for a Worldwide Action Star. Since I’ve never taken him seriously for a second, it’s hard to take all this seriously and although he really does do some acting in this, he’s playing himself…so it’s hard to judge the performance. The movie is technically well-made but nothing new. The story itself is very conventional (even without all the meta aspects to it) and although the ending was somewhat unexpected, the entire affair seems oddly trite at the end. All this soul-searching and soul-bearing from a Worldwide Action Star and I was mostly unmoved. Meh.
So I guess it failed. But coupled with SNY, it was a very meta, very weird afternoon at the movies.
Yay-yeah - The Pixar Story delivered! What a crazy, wild venture. Well I’m glad I haven’t missed anything by skipping JCVD in the theater. The trailer looked better than I expected, though.
Hehe, thanks for that clip Jennybee. I never see enough dressed up dogs.
I saw I’ve Loved You So Long on Friday night. Not as moving as I would have expected and a touch too long, but otherwise a rock-solid story of redemption and KST was predictably perfect.
On Saturday night, against my best interest, I braved a completely sold-out 7:00 screening of Slumdog Millionaire. I walked out glad that I’d done it – the best movie I’ve seen so far this year, and one of the best I’ve seen in recent years. It’s lighter, a bit manipulatively emotional and maybe not as intellectual as something like SNY, but considering all things it constitutes what I personally consider a perfect movie.
We’ll see what happens when I write about it.
In other news, I’ve been exchanging emails with none other than Mark Cuban about what Landmark Theatres should do to improve the customer experience. I can’t imagine anything will actually come of it, but it’s impressive that he replies to emails back and forth so quickly.
I saw two films this weekend — Synecdoche and Slumdog. The former is quite good — especially for a first directorial effort — but I don’t see how it’ll rake in the box office because people won’t be able to figure it out and also because the tone too often is melancholy (something people seem to avoid). Trying to understand the complexities of the film I think would be a mistake and a distraction.
Slumdog, on the other hand, gets my highest praise. It’s really quite a masterpiece. All the aspects of filmmaking have been combined by director Boyle into what I’ll call a cinematic symphony. Go see it!
Daniel, you may find JCVD more entertaining than I did. I’ve never had much respect for the Van Dammer as an actor or an action star, so he had a long ways to go to impress me here. The look of this thing is interesting, but the fractured timeline, the meta aspects, and the general premise are all things I’ve seen done before. I think I had a hard time swallowing the irony of an actor trying to be taken more seriously in the context of a film that is, at its core, very similar to the sort of movies he wishes to remove himself from.
Weird project all around.
I’m with you on Milk, one of the best of the year. Sean Penn’s performance is….wow. That man is gifted.
I’ll keep this short since I didn’t see too much this weekend (someone else can have the crown this week, haha): Friday, I finally saw Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. Some of you may have seen my recent review of The Road Warrior at CCC, which I’ve seen numerous times and I had always avoided the third installment. Wish I still had, wow, that was very bad. Then it was a small English Hammer noir called Wings of Danger, which was actually fairly good.
Saturday, I saw Hal Holbrook perform “Mark Twain Tonight!” at the Marin Veterans Memorial Civic Center, which was a truly fabulous show. Sean Penn sat two rows behind me, and during intermission, he was walking just a couple of feet in front of me to get some air (in his case to smoke). Came home late that night and saw Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon, a Holmes story set during World War II, and made into a propaganda film.
Sunday, it was a Lynchathon: Wild at Heart, Twin Peaks, Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive and Inland Empire all in order. Then it was midnight and I watched Sherlock Holmes and the Woman in Green.
I did see some of the best offerings from 2008 this past week, though, including Synecdoche, New York and Slumdog Millionaire, reviews for which I have written. This was the best week of new releases I’ve enjoyed, though I had to go into San Francisco for the opportunity.
Yeah, Alexander, you hardly saw anything this weekend. ;-P Was that 9 movies? I can hardly believe your still standing after the Lynchathon. I think I would be walking around in a daze for a week after that.
How cool to see Holbrook on stage. I recently saw John Carroll Lynch (who should have joined Holbrook as a Best Supporting Actor nominee last year for Zodiac) in an Arthur Miller play, and it was tremendous. Something about seeing these actors on stage really makes me appreciate their work on screen.
Did you not take the opportunity to talk to Penn?!?! I’m not sure what I would have said. Definitely something idiotic.
Wow, it always amazes me that apparently people don’t have jobs anymore and apparently can spend so many hours of the day watching movies. No wonder the economy’s spiraling into oblivion.
This weekend I didn’t manage to see anything new, I rewatched the old Bond movies On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and Diamonds Are Forever, each of which is entertaining but flawed in different, specific ways, plus the ’50s British sci-fi cheapie Devil Girl from Mars, which wasn’t very good.
I can only speak for myself but I don’t work weekends, Jeff. And Alexander cloned himself a while back. His posts are technically a group effort.
If we did the Watercooler thread on say, Wednesday morning, I imagine it’d be mostly crickets chirping except for the 6 movies Alexander would have seen the night before.
Yes, but I’m also impressed by the dedication of Sam Juliano, who saw a concert, five plays, three operas, and fourteen movies on top of dealing with his eleven kids.
HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Jeff, at the end of the day, you are A-OK in my book.
If I get out to LA, we must have dinner and see a flick together.
Much appreciated.
I was supposed to see MILK at a press screening in the morning, but can’t make it because of class. Hopefully there will be another soon, besides CHE it’s my most anticipated of the fall. Glad to hear you liked it.
You forgot about the reviews. They both write reviews too (in addition to all the other working critics here).
I have the utmost respect for Sam and Alexander’s voracious appetite (and scheduling) for film and theater as well as your talent for finding oddball gems, Jeff.
But I think those two are inhuman.
Sam wins the weekend prize just for capping it off with opera and for all the reasons Jeff mentions. I don’t have a life and still don’t manage to squeeze in as much as Sam.
Sorry you weren’t quite as taken by Eden as I was Sam. Maybe I just have a thing for Irish people.
JB, you’re way too cool to be a squealer. I can tell. Also, I dig the old MGM musicals. Broadway Melody is a little bit creaky and it doesn’t have awesome Ruby Keeler, but it does have a ton of songs they recycled for Singin’ in the Rain so that’s cool.
Joel, I’m not 100% convinced I’ve cracked SNY myself. I’m repeating myself here, but i really want to see it again…and yet I’m afraid to.
Looks like Pierre and Daniel are added to the chorus of praise for Slumdog…a movie I still haven’t seen. I’m headed out of town for the holiday, but maybe I’ll make a point of catching it. All the cool kids are doing it…
Ari, I was a little surprised at how good Penn was. It was a totally different character than what I’ve seen him do before….though in fairness I haven’t seen all of his movies…I refuse to watch I Am Sam for example…
Jeff, I kind of love OHMSS, flaws and all. I can’t say the same about Diamonds. The last time I watched them all, that one stuck out as one of my least favorite. And yet, when I was a kid I really liked it.
Seriously Alexander…that was an off weekend for you? That’s madness! Madness I tell you!!!
Matthew, I’m looking forward to others catching Milk and Che. If I was a betting man I’d say the former will be popular but the latter is going to leave some people scratching their heads.
I Am Sam is pretty wretched. It really is the “Simple Jack” of Penn’s career.
Glad you dug MILK, Craig. I should be catching it within the next week or so. Looking forward to it immensely.
Also: you have a thing for Irish people? Well, saints preserve us.
That explains a lot…
Just saw MILK. A good film with a great Penn performance. He’s the actor of his generation. The film veers between Van Sant’s artfullness and things I generally dislike about Hollywood style biopics — I would have jettisoned Danny Elfman’s entire score. But Sean Penn!
My bugaboo of the minute …. why isn’t The Dark Knight getting more Oscar buzz? It’s the best big Hollywood production of the year, so far, with a few still to come. Is there any major film this year that was more ambitious?
Anti-comic book bias, combined with some ‘it made a ton of money, it’s been rewarded enough’ sentiment.
I think TDK’s just holding steady, a known quantity, as everyone’s attention turns to the newer contenders who are at make-it-or-break-it time with all the late-season releases. I still think it’s in there, and I suspect it will turn up on a best of top 10 lists and make a respectable showing at the various awards shows (though it’ll likely get shut out by quite a few of the more elite ones).
It won’t hurt that it’s coming out on DVD with the bells and whistles just in time for Christmas/awards season and everyone will be rewatching it.
I don’t keep my finger on the awards this early in the season, K, but I thought it was still considered a front runner for at least a half-dozen nominations and a strong contender for Best Supporting Actor?
Oh, it will get some noms, and some wins, Joel. But man, I watched a traielr for it a couple days ago at a second-run theater, and the scale of some of those scenes look like they’re out of the Godfather.
Yeah I think Warners is just playing it cool right now. Personally I was feeling a little TDK fatigue last summer and I think the studio would like to avoid that. I’m certain we haven’t heard the last of the film and there will be much more around the DVD release.
It will be back in theaters and IMAX in January. Expect the push to begin in earnest then.