THE SODERBERGH EXPERIENCE

An interview with THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE director, Steven Soderbergh

(Portions of this article are taken from CBC Arts Online and have been published here with their permission.)


I’ll admit to being nervous. I’m not above that. I had interviewed filmmakers before but I had never interviewed a director whose films were among some of my all time favorites. This was certainly a step up for me. This was the man who directed the technical masterpiece, TRAFFIC, and won an Oscar for it. This was the man who gave me one of my guiltiest pleasures, OUT OF SIGHT. This was the man whose latest film, THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE, is stimulating on a number of levels and one of the best films I've seen all year. This was Steven Soderbergh, people.

The day before my interview was scheduled to take place, I had been invited to see a special press screening of THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE. Shot over a period of 16 days in October 2008, GFE, as it was originally titled, is a week in the life of Chelsea (played by 21-year-old adult film star, Sasha Grey). Chelsea is strikingly beautiful, made even more impressive considering she is only seen eating at the finest Manhattan restaurants or leaving the most luxurious Upper West Side hotels or shopping at the priciest Soho designer shops. She keeps a meticulous account of all her appointments, noting the clothing she wore, the meals she ate or the movies she may have discussed. She is also insatiably unsatisfied with the goals she has attained and is always looking for ways to be better at what she does. What she does is charge people over $2000 per hour for not just the pleasure of her company in bed but rather the full experience of what it feels like to be her boyfriend.


For years, Soderbergh has gone back and forth between big studio pictures with big names and independent films that feature real people with real problems and only an outline to get from the start to the finish. THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE would fall into the latter of the two categories, if one felt the need to categorize it. Soderbergh doesn’t see the distinction nor this need to define his work quite so rigidly. “People seem compelled to divvy up my career into two parts,” he states. “They’re both like math problems; one has a different set of integers than the other but its still math.” Still, he is not so naïve to suggest that there is the same degree of financial risk between the two. “What is helpful about the small films is you’re closer to the ground if you make a mistake. If I fall off this rope, I’m going to sprain an ankle; I’m not going to die.”


Arguably, Soderbergh has been experimenting with realism on camera since his first feature, the then groundbreaking, SEX LIES AND VIDEOTAPE. The frankness with which sexuality was discussed would go unnoticed today (“It is like watching a movie that took place in world with gas lamps,” Soderbergh quips about watching it now) but the honesty with which the characters address themselves and each other is a form of realism that seems still difficult to achieve on film today. Realism is what makes THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE such a fascinating interaction. Not only was it shot amidst last year’s financial collapse and just before the elections but it is set then as well. As money exchanges hands between Chelsea and her clients, nearly all of them seem to be questioning whether they can still fit her into their budgets. “Since the design of the film is that people are speaking for and as themselves, that’s just where everybody’s head was.,” he says, knowing the situation added an extra level of intrigue to the film that may have been tricky to get less organically.


While Soderbergh’s indie projects tend to use non-actors, this one is different, mostly. Grey, has been working in pornography since she was 18 years old and THE GIRLDFRIEND EXPERIENCE marks her first foray into mainstream filmmaking. She didn’t get into adult film because of drugs or booze or a broken home; she simply saw a need and filled it. Soderbergh was drawn to her ambition and uncommon backstory, to say nothing of her baby doll beauty. He did not cast her for these reasons though. No, he cast her because she exudes control in situations that are otherwise fantastical to mainstream society. “Even though I knew it wasn’t going to be explicit, I wanted somebody who in sexualized situations feels totally in command and powerful. I feel like that’s a tricky thing to fake.” He’s right. On screen, Grey is always in control of what she allows herself to say and how she allows herself to be seen and treated. Detractors of the film have claimed that Grey’s distant, aloof demeanor leave the film feeling shallow but Soderbergh begs to differ. For him, the film would lose everything it has going if Grey had played it any other way. She is meant to be mystery.


Having done some unavoidable research of Grey’s previous work on film, Soderbergh knew he would have only one serious hurdle to get over. “What I noticed about her extreme stuff was her awareness of the camera. She is always aware of the lens, playing to the lens. I knew it was going to be interesting to put her in a situation where she would absolutely have to forget the camera because it seemed like she was obsessed with it.” And how will all of this play for Grey and her fans? Grey, who couldn’t believe it when she got home to find Soderbergh’s voice on her answering machine, appears naked only once on screen and is never seen having any actual sex. How will this new sensitive side of Sasha Grey affect the way her fans watch her adult work? “Fantasy is about something that you aren’t getting and that you want. We have the inverse here with Sasha. You can, on her site, within seconds, see her do anything imaginable with her clothes off. What you can’t see is what its like to be her boyfriend and hang out with her or be emotionally intimate with her. My whole theory is that this is the fantasy for the guys who have been double-clicking but would rather spend 77 minutes being her boyfriend.”


As for Soderbergh, he is already hard at work on his next feature, MONEYBALL, starring Brad Pitt and Demitri Martin. Having run around all day myself, from a movie to an interview then to this interview before another one immediately afterward that would be followed by industry drinks, I had only one more question. When is Steven Soderbergh going to take a well-deserved break? “What’s going to happen is at a certain point, I will just stop. I don’t have two speeds; I’ll just stop.” His answer was straightforward and succinct. You might even say it was Soderberghian. Well, I might anyway.

SOURCE: CBC Arts Online

FOOD INC

Written and Directed by Robert Kenner


“It looks like a tomato but it’s more of a notional tomato, the idea of a tomato.”

If we are what we eat, then none of us are going to make it. FOOD INC is one of the scariest movies of the year and also one that will sadly not be seen by as many as it should. Our parents watch over us when we’re young and stop us if we are going to put something in our mouths that we shouldn’t, like gum we find on the floor or something equally bacteria ridden. And yes, these same parents would put the best possible food they could on the tables but no one wants to ask any questions about how this food actually got from the farm to the table. Whenever I have recommended to anyone that they see FOOD INC, the first thing they ask is if this is the kind of movie that shows us what we’re really eating. When I tell them it is, they want nothing to do with it. Apparently, when it comes to food, ignorance is bliss … with a big fat side of fries.


First time feature filmmaker, Robert Kenner has put together an important film that is actually a lot easier to chew and digest than you would expect. Watching FOOD INC is not going to make you lose your lunch. It will however open your eyes to what you really were packing for lunch. At first, Kenner had been working with author, Eric Schlosser, to make a documentary of Schlosser’s fascinating expose, FAST FOOD NATION. That was unfortunately made into a lackluster fictional work instead but now FOOD INC is the movie I always wanted FAST FOOD NATION to be. Schlosser is still on hand as an expert (whose favorite meal, ironically, is burgers and fries) but this film does not focus solely on the role fast food has played in the decline of our food production. Instead, it starts there and looks at the cleanliness of slaughterhouses, the conglomerate control of farming and the government bias that ensures that manufacturers are better protected than the consumers.


FOOD INC is not some prejudicial disparagement of the American food industry. In fact, it is almost forgiving of the corporate driven field as it states a number of times that the situation we find ourselves in today was likely unintended at the onset. Like other documentaries that cry out for change that will benefit humanity though, it offers little advice to go forward with. There are a number of suggestions at the close of the film of how we the little people can make a difference for our selves and for others but after seeing just how much excess fat we are already drowning in, it is hard to think that these suggestion truly will better future generations. Still, we must start somewhere and we should all start by seeing FOOD INC.

For a list of things you can do right now to improve how you eat, visit the film’s website.

BLU-TUESDAY .. June 16

Although this week is weak on first run releases, the titles making their way to BD for the first time are abundant. With all the chatter about a new film potentially in the works, GHOSTBUSTERS on BD should satisfy those need of an ectoplasmic fix now. Another classic comedy, SPACEBALLS, the Mel Brooks STAR WARS spoof comes back to show all the current spoofers how it’s done. And the Criterion folks release their latest BD treatment of a film classic, in this case, Ingmar Bergman’s THE SEVENTH SEAL. But wait, there’s more …

FRIDAY THE 13TH (parts 1-3)
Who would have thought that it has nearly been 30 years since horror icon, Jason, first terrorized a bunch of innocent campers in their cabins and sleeping bags? To commemorate the anniversary, Paramount is releasing the first three films in the now 12-part long series on BD. The first installment was released in an uncut version earlier this year but now finds the “Killer Cut” coming out. This pretty much means more blood and more gore. Though a series reboot attempt proved to be only minutely successful this year, a sequel is already in the works so it should be long before more reissued Jason adventures find their way to BD. Though the features vary from film to film, you can expect to find a sampling of the following extras …

- Director/Screenwriter commentary
- Director profile
- 2008 panel discussion revisiting the films
- Special effects showcases
- Trivia
- 3rd installment is in 3D


DR STRANGELOVE OR HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB
In 2007, a good chunk of Stanley Kubrick classics were remastered and reissued on DVD. A notable absence was this particular favorite that was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Director, back when I was initially released in 1964. It is now ready for BD release in the year of its 45th anniversary so Kurbrick fans will be one step closer to completing their collections. Always putting his bravest foot forward, Kubrick tackled the nuclear scare in this satire and did so with biting comedy that found audiences laughing instead of worrying for a change. Aside from about a half dozen special featurettes, the BD edition also contains …

- Picture in Picture trivia track
- Interview with former Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara


JOHN ADAMS
I am by no means an American history buff and I know for certain that I am not about to pick up an American history book to get up on it. And so I am thankful for the good people at HBO for bringing me this miniseries. Now I can learn all about the birth of the United States in a Tom Hanks produced series that is impeccably acted by Emmy and Golden Globe winners, Paul Giamatti, Laura Linner and Tom Wilkinson. I have only up to now watched the first episode and, for a heavily wigged period piece, it is compelling and tense. I am not advocating doing all of your historical learning through fictionalized drama but you could do a lot worse than this. This 3-Disc set contains …

- Making of John Adams
- Portrait of author, David McCullough
- Pop-up historical guide
- Episode recaps

Really? GRAN TORINO?

Someone needs to explain to me right now why GRAN TORINO is considered the #77 best film of all time according to Internet Movie Database readers. Better yet, someone needs to explain to me why Hollywood trips over itself every time a Clint Eastwood picture comes along. I get it; he’s an icon. He’s probably even a very likable fella. The man has been directing films since the early 1970’s. He’s even won two Oscars for directing (one for UNFORGIVEN and again for MILLION DOLLAR BABY). I’m not saying he isn’t talented; even I lavished him with praise for LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA. But for every one of those, there is another FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS. Or worse yet, there’s MYSTIC RIVER – God, that one was particularly painful. Just because Clint is a legend does not mean everything he touches will be legendary.


Had I caught GRAN TORINO in theatres upon its release, I would have likely named it among the worst films of 2008. I am so thrilled the Academy Awards ignored this embarrassment. Audiences did not ignore this picture though; the film went on to gross just under $150 million in North America. Many people saw this picture as a retired reincarnation of Eastwood’s iconic Dirty Harry character. Personally, I saw his character, Walt Kowalski, as the kind of old white guy who is generally seen as the generation that needs to die off in order for America to become open minded. He leers in judgment at everyone he crosses – from his pierced, ungrateful granddaughter to his inexperienced priest to his Korean neighbors who won’t get off his lawn. His wife has just passed and now that he is totally alone, all he has to keep him company is his misery. Well, that is until he ends up befriending the Korean neighbors and they subsequently change his whole outlook on other cultures. Apparently, it isn’t so tricky to teach an old dog new tricks.


Pulling double duty as director and lead actor must have taken a lot of Eastwood’s focus. I can think of no other explanation why he didn’t notice that nearly all the other performances in GRAN TORINO are distractingly laughable. It’s all about Walt though. He is an old crank who spouts out racial obscenities to passersby or to himself while he incessantly mows his lawn or sits on his porch downing canned beer and hating everyone. Focusing all his attention on Walt meant leaving all the secondary characters to rely on nothing more than racial stereotypes to establish themselves. In the end then, Walt has to resolve his ignorance with a society that is written from an already ignorant perspective and we’re supposed to commend him for his progress. Thank goodness that the old, angry white guy was able to open his mind in time to see that he had to come to the rescue of all the unruly foreigners. Very progressive indeed.

Black Sheep @ The Box Office

I'm afraid there will be no box office report this week. Believe it or not but Black Sheep has other things to do every once in a while. For instance, today is my best buddy, Trevor's birthday, which he would likely call a birfday. He's just like that. Anyway, I've got things to wrap, food to make and surprises to reveal. You'll just have to settle for chart only this week.

Briefly, THE HANGOVER held on for a second week at number one. I had previously reported it had debuted in second place last week but it's Sunday numbers were much better than expected and it ended up winning last weekend. UP! remained in second with an equally impressive hold from last week. THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123 was the big premiere this week and it posted a solid third place finish, on par with previous blockbusters from stars, John Travolta and Denzel Washington. Eddie Murphy was not so lucky; for the second summer in a row, an Eddie Murphy family comedy has bombed with under $6 million in its first weekend. Below the Top 10, AWAY WE GO maintained a healthy $12K average as it expanded to over 40 screens. The Sam Rockwell starrer, MOON, debuted to $18K per screen on a eight screens. Direct from Cannes, Francis Ford Coppola's latest, TETRO debuted to an average of approximately $15K on just two screens. But it was documentary, FOOD INC (Black Sheep review to follow next week) that took the honour of best average this weekend with $21K on three screens.

NEXT WEEK: Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds in THE PROPOSAL take on Jack Black and Michael Cera in YEAR ONE as they both debut on roughly 2900 screens. And Woody Allen's latest with Larry David, WHATEVER WORKS, makes its limited release debut.

Source: BOX OFFICE MOJO

ABC: A CLOCKWORK ORANGE

Written and Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Starring Malcolm McDowell


As far as film experiences go, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE is by far one of the most challenging, one of the most disturbing and one of the most satisfying experiences to be had. Stanley Kubrick’s 1971 masterpiece is considered practically unwatchable by many of its detractors and possibly his most inspired work by many of its admirers. A contemporary viewing of the film is surprisingly horrifying, considering how desensitized the world has become to, what was coined at the time as, ultra-violence. I can only imagine what initial audiences of the film went through as they met and came to know, the now iconic, Alex DeLarge (Malcolm McDowell). Critics at the time called it either the greatest film ever made or the most deplorably amoral piece of pornography ever made. With such a distinct divide, it is no wonder that A CLOCKWORK ORANGE has stayed the test of time and overcome its criticism to take its rightful place as one of the most controversial films ever made.


Kubrick makes it practically impossible to like Alex from the very start. He is young and attractive, sitting with his mates, known as The Droogs, at a bar unlike any other I’ve ever seen. In this representation of Britain set in an indeterminate time in the future, the cool thing to do is to sit around and drink milk, complete with chemical enhancement, dispensed from the nipples of milk bars shaped like naked women, while you put your feet up on tables, also shaped like naked women in spider walk poses. When Alex and The Droogs leave the bar, they make a few choice stops before heading home. The first is an alley, where they beat up a drunk, homeless man, perhaps because they can see their own futures in front of them or perhaps because they just felt like it. Then they save a helpless naked girl from being gang raped in an abandoned theatre by beating on her attackers. Of course, Kubrick allows us to watch her attempted rape long enough for it go from uncomfortable and sickening to a full on rape fantasy, but that is somehow part of this film’s charm. At this point, we are still torn on Alex but then he and The Droogs force their way into a luxury home and proceed to beat the man of the house senseless and rape his wife in front of him, all the while singing the cheery tune, “Singin’ in the Rain”. Then its back to his cushy room at home with Mom and Dad for Alex, just another night out with the boys.


This overt misogyny is rampant throughout A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, from the women with their legs spread wide open in the art on the walls to the young ladies sucking on penis shaped suckers in a record store. As offensive as it all can be, perhaps it is best served as a foundation for the times Alex has grown up in. It is possible that Alex has no respect for women because society in general has none either. Even strong female characters, what little there are in the film, have the same paintings on their walls or walk around with lightning blue hair and are clearly not meant to be taken too seriously. And while this may explain Alex’s lack of respect for women, it does not say anything of his violent tendencies. His antics get him arrested and sent to jail at one point and, after spending a few years behind bars, Alex volunteers for an experimental process that is supposed to cure him of all violent impulses. This ushers in one of the film’s central themes, one’s own free will. The experiment is a success; through a series of tests involving drugs and forced subjection to violent imagery, Alex now gets physically ill every time he wants to do bad. The question then remains whether a person can be conditioned to change from evil to good and whether there is truly any change at all if the impulse remains but the subject is just no longer capable of acting on it. If Alex were physically paralyzed, he would not be able to inflict harm on other people but the answer is not to cut off the limbs of all criminals currently in prison to ensure good behaviour. How then is it fair for the government to sever the minds of madmen, as though they were limbs, to achieve the same effect?


The experiments that were conducted on Alex lend a critical layer to A CLOCKWORK ORANGE that practically places the viewer in Alex’s torture seat. We are, after all, as spectators and potential admirers of this fantastic film, like Alex, attracted to violent film. Why else would we be watching this? Unlike Alex, yes, we can walk away whenever we want to, but how often do we do just that? The experiments Alex undergoes suppose that his initial exposure to such violent imagery played a significant role in his violent nature and this is why they are now being used to trigger negative reactions to similar impulses. If you’ve watched this far into the film, then you’ve seen quite a bit of provocative imagery. Does this then mean that something inside of you has been triggered to now want to reenact these acts you have just seen, as you equate this kind of violence with the slick, smooth coolness of the film? Of course not. Why then is it so simple for right wing conservative groups to propose that film violence has a direct impact on the rise of violent behaviour in an impressionable mind? To further drive the point, Kubrick aligns us with Alex everytime Alex’s narration is heard and he refers to himself as our humble narrator and to us as his only friends. Suddenly, this is the company we are keeping in close council. Alex is without question an appalling human being but now that we’re friends , we can’t just turn him away.


The scary truth is that I actually feel sympathy for Alex by the time his journey comes to a close. I also do, to some extent, delight in his company. I don’t condone his bevaviour but he is certainly good for a chuckle now and then. In that sense, Kubrick reminds us that nothing is as simple as it seems. You cannot just turn violent nature on or off by flipping a switch in someone’s head; you cannot reject Alex flat out because you cannot say with any certainty that he is incapable of being saved; and you cannot simply dismiss a film because of its rough exterior or you will miss the complexities lying underneath. Like a plain old orange, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE may be tough on the outside but you have to peel through it to get to the juicy bits on the inside.

AWAY WE GO

Written by Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida
Directed by Sam Mendes
Starring John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph


Burt Farlander: I had a dream about Montreal last week.
Verona De Tessant: Was I topless in it?
Burt Farlander: Yes.

From the moment you see this dilapidated shack of a house, you think how could anyone live here? There is a light on inside so someone must live there. Who could possibly though? It looks as though it could fall in on itself at any moment. And then you see the inside. There is a tool and workstation in the bedroom! What hapless losers call this dump home? Well, that would be Burt Farlander and Verona De Tessant (John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph) and when you meet them, you realize instantly that they deserve so much better. They’re good people who are trying to find their place who haven’t realized yet that they don’t have to stay in one place to find it. They are also just now, both in their early 30’s, waking up to the reality of their adult life and seeing that they’ve got a lot more work to do than they thought. And so away they go in search of a real home in Sam Mendes’s AWAY WE GO.


It might have been the decrepit yet necessary space heater in the living room or the cardboard box that was doubling as a window in the kitchen but it was a lot more likely that it was Verona’s unexpected pregnancy that tipped the couple off. There comes a point in time in our lives when we can no longer just get by on our youthful charms, when we must take specific action to fashion our lives into something we can grow into security or a legacy. That time is now for Burt and Verona. After Burt’s parents (Catherine O’Hara and Jeff Daniels) inform the twosome that they are moving to Belgium for two years, they realize that there is no reason for them to continue living in Colorado as they were only doing so to be close to his parents. All too often, we resign ourselves to what we know and avoid venturing past our safety zones out of fear of the unknown or because of just plain complacency but Burt and Verona have just realized that there is nothing remotely safe about their particular zone. Worse yet, it isn’t home.


This charming road trip film is winning and touching despite its formulaic trappings. After leaving Colorado, Burt and Verona go to Phoenix, Madison and Miami. They even make their way north of the border to Montreal. At each spot, they visit with friends and family in hopes of feeling a connection that might make them want to move there. The premise is inherently episodic as each of these people they meet with has children already and they each have different approaches to proper parenting. There is always something to learn and Mendes does nothing to mask the transparency of their journey. What he does is allow seasoned character actors like O’Hara and Daniels, or Maggie Gyllenhaal, Alison Janney and Chris Messina to bring sincerity and depth to what would otherwise be hollow shells. And with the unavoidably likable Krasinski and the refreshingly honest Rudolph taking us on this ride, even long lulls on the road pass by like a breeze.


AWAY WE GO is the kind of film that makes me wish I had someone to get out there and look for a home with. Burt and Verona are something of a dying breed today. The love they have for each other is deep but practical and at no point in time does either take for granted that they will make it through to the other side without having to do a little work to get there. They also don’t take it all so seriously so as much as they work, they play just as hard. The way in which they play is what gives AWAY WE GO a warmth that I’ve only known from one place before … home.

Really? HE'S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU?

Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Connelly, Ben Affleck, Scarlett Johansson, Drew Barrymore, Justin Long and Ginnifer Goodwin – it’s a cast that never ends. With names like that, it is no surprise really that HE’S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU was a hit last February. Factor in the perfect Valentine’s Day timing and how could you go wrong. The film won its weekend with just under $30 million and went on to earn just shy of $100 million. Not bad for a film that was based on a book that was based on one line of dialogue from the “Sex and the City” series. I missed it in theatres but now that it is available to rent, I’m not quite sure how any of you were that into the movie itself.


An incredibly sappy string driven score, complete with wind chime highlights, opens the Ken Kwapis (LICENSE TO WED) film. A little girl is playing all by her lonesome in a sandbox and then a boy approaches her. She looks at him and wonders what he could possibly want with her and he in turn, in true little boy badness, shoves her and calls her names. At this point in the film, I am worried that I am in store for a very silly film but a voiceover steps in to suggest that this scenario is where all troubles begin for the ladies. This little sandbox girl runs to her mommy who explains that this little boy only treats her badly because he likes her. Suddenly, I am wondering if this cheesy chick flick might be able to answer a mystery I’ve never quite understood – why do girls always go for the bad boys? The insight lasted for about five seconds though and before long, I was drowning in good actors acting poorly, poor actors acting worse than usual and so many exaggerated dating clichés that I was glad to be single and along watching this banality of a picture.


HE’S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU tries to capture the particular moment in time that people of the dating world are living these days. We are a society of instant gratification. We expect certainty within moments of meeting and we decide within those same moments whether to use and discard or just not bother. We play by so many rules that no one can even see the goal through the field. Though we maintain specific distances with people, we claim to want closeness and we continue to play no matter how futile we think the whole affair to be. We are a complicated bunch and Kwapis paints us all as pathetic little losers with no hopes of ever finding love. His explanations are far too facile but he is sure to reinforce that we need another to be complete our lives and experience real happiness before wrapping up so that we can all continue to lose sleep wondering why he’s just not that into me.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: UP! Stays Up

The forecast did not look good on Friday. Before going into the weekend, prognosticators expected an easy second week win for Pixar’s latest hit, UP! It was then expected that Will Ferrell’s remake, LAND OF THE LOST, would follow in a distant second and R-rated comedy, THE HANGOVER, would post impressive but limited R-rated numbers. Then THE HANGOVER went and captured over $16 million on Friday to win the day and the title of second biggest R-rated comedy opening day in history (behind the $26.8 million one day haul SEX AND THE CITY took in last year). Suddenly the skies were not so clear for another UP! victory.


Ultimately, UP! won the weekend with a slight 35% decline. This marks the shortest second week decline for a Pixar picture since FINDING NEMO, which would eventually go on to become the top grossing G-rated movie of all time with just under $340 million. With no other significant family film or animated feature before the latest ICE AGE installment on July 1, UP! is in a great position to reach similar numbers to FINDING NEMO and will certainly surge past recent hits, WALL-E and RATATOUILLE.


Just because LAND OF THE LOST was being released on more screens, contained a PG-13 rating and starred Will Ferrell, people were expecting it to be the weekend’s big hit. Go figure. I would consider it a testament to a new audience intelligence that they didn’t just go see it because it was big and shiny but then again, they threw a ton of money at THE HANGOVER instead. To be fair, I actually thought THE HANGOVER, directed by Todd Phillips, who directed Ferrell in OLD SCHOOL, would be much better than it was and went to see it opening day as well. I found out very quickly just how sobering an experience it was. Warner Brothers is happy though. The unexpected success of THE HANGOVER affirms that it was the right decision to green light a sequel before the film even hit theatres.


No film came anywhere close to matching the per screen average of this week’s breakout art house success, AWAY WE GO. Directed by Sam Mendes (REVOLUTIONARY ROAD), AWAY WE GO follows John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph around the country as they search for a place to call home and raise their first child together. The simple and touching story received a mixed reaction from critics but audiences were drawn to it as it pulled in $143K on four screens for an average of nearly $36K per screen. The film will continue to unspool slowly in the weeks to come. Other notable limited releases include SERAPHINE, a French film by Martin Provost. The winner of seven Cesar Awards (the French equivalent of the Oscar), including Best Picture, SERAPHINE pulled in nearly $40K on six screens, for an average $6.5K. And proving further that she is box office poison, Mariah Carey starred in TENNESSEE and brought in a grand total of $10K on 15 screens (most of them actually in Tennessee) for a very un-diva like average of under a grand.


NEXT WEEK: Oh joy … Eddie Murphy is back in IMAGINE THAT (2800 screens). In this one, he bonds with his daughter because her imaginary friends have great stock tips. I enjoyed this premise the first time I saw it on “The Simpsons” when Homer was using Lisa for football tips. And aging A-listers, John Travolta and Denzel Washington go head to head in Tony Scott’s remake of THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123. On the smaller side of things, look for documentary, FOOD INC, Sam Rockwell vehicle, MOON and the latest Francis Ford Coppolla attempt to recapture his creditability, TETRO.

Source: Box Office Mojo

THE HANGOVER

Written by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore
Directed by Todd Phillips
Starring Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galafinakis and Heather Graham


Stu Price: Why are you peppering the steak? You don’t even know if tigers like pepper.
Alan Garner: Tigers love pepper. It’s cinnamon they don’t like.

I think its fair to say that anyone who will see THE HANGOVER knows the pain of waking up to the birds chirping cheerfully outside and the sun shining brightly through the curtains, all the while wishing that it would all go away so you can sink into the hell you brought upon yourself. I myself have certainly shuffled back and forth between my bed and the toilet more mornings that I care to recall. What I don’t understand though is why anyone who does know this excruciating pain would choose to visit it voluntarily on the big screen. While watching THE HANGOVER does not inspire the same kind of nausea as a night of serious drinking, it does capture the subdued tone of the dreaded morning after pretty well. I stopped drinking excessively specifically to avoid this tone and THE HANGOVER is nowhere near a good enough reason to go back there.


From the moment THE HANGOVER begins, the voice is unmistakable. A wedding is being set up, from the flowers at the ends of the aisles to the frilly icing on the cake. As we know that we are about to watch a buddy movie where four guys get wild and rowdy on a Las Vegas bachelor party, there is no question that director, Todd Phillips, is speaking distinctly to the men out there and that the beautiful floral arrangements and final wedding details are meant to be ridiculed. Look at how preposterous all these finishing touches are, men. Aren’t women completely out of their heads for spending so much time on all of this? Let’s go get drunk already. If you’re the type of man who thinks that tired and immensely ignorant setup is hilarious than you may very well love THE HANGOVER. After all, it isn’t long after this that you get to delight in the demonizing of women as every one we meet is controlling, manipulative and callous. It’s all very modern bride.


THE HANGOVER is not about the women though; it is all about the men and their bond. The trouble is that I didn’t see anything remotely redeeming about this sad pack of losers. The groom himself, Doug (Justin Bartha), is completely uninteresting but that doesn’t matter as he is misplaced for the majority of the film. His impending brother-in-law, Alan (Zach Galafinakis) is a fat, furry troll of a man who is socially inept to the point of extreme discomfort – painful awkwardness is always a pleasure to watch on screen. Doug’s buddy Phil (Bradley Cooper) is ruggedly handsome but he steals field trip money from his elementary school class to spend at the tables and has zero respect or appreciation for his wife and child so it isn’t so easy to find him endearing. In fact, the only one of the bunch that is remotely winning is Ed Helms as Stu Price. Of course, Stu is completely whipped so you’ve got to love the guy. Poor thing has to answer to someone else; it is so horrible that people should be expected to be held accountable to the person they claim to love.

Frankly, I couldn’t have cared less what happened to these guys as I wish that less guys like this actually existed. Really, how am I supposed to root for guys who are so dumb that they would leave a baby in a parked car alone? While Philips is savvy enough to structure THE HANGOVER so that we piece the mysterious evening together at the same time as they do, it all amounts to these unappealing characters going from scenario to extreme scenario asking people if they remember anything about their interactions from the night before. It also doesn’t amount to very many laughs so maybe the real hangover isn’t from a heavy night of drinking but rather an excessive indulgence in overdone average dumb guy comedy.

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Black Sheep Previews: NEW MOON

After its highly anticipated debut at last week's MTV Movie Awards, the trailer for the second installment in the Twilight vampire series, NEW MOON, has reignited the lust for blood in girls around the world. Clearly, from the overtly romantic tone of the trailer, new helmer, Chris Weitz (who replaced Catherine Hardwicke to many fans' dismay), knows what fans connected with in the first installment and intends to play that up this time out. I'm not a big Weitz fan, when it comes to direction, that is. His writing is surprisingly sensitive (CHUCK & BUCK, ABOUT A BOY) but his direction barely holds big pictures together. As it stands, his work on THE GOLDEN COMPASS left the fate of the series in question so it does not bode well for this immensely popular series. That said, he seems to be holding true to the simple hometown aesthetic of the last outing, as opposed to the glamorizing Alfonso Cuaron brought to the Harry Potter series. Well, Taylor Lautner (Jacob - the one who turns into a wolf), got a much needed haircut and has clearly been doing nothing but working on his pecs since the last production wrapped but aside from that, everything seems to be in line with the sincerity that captured both believers and non-believers so genuinely in TWILIGHT. Just remember boys and girls, Lautner is but a baby of 17. No touching.



Personally, I've lost a little interest in the Twilight Saga. I had none to begin with and then was surprisingly impressed with the film. I mean, it wasn't perfect but it certainly had more going for it than I had anticipated. I loved Bella (Kristen Stewart) and her simple demeanor. Even Robert Pattinson as Edward grew on me after I got over his ability to sparkle in the daylight. I am still looking forward to this sequel but I've also been watching the first season of "True Blood" so my experience is tainted. There are far too many similarities between the two and "True Blood" is not doing a good job of it. The wah-wah whiny nature of the HBO series makes Edward seem all the more sappy. It's almost making me wish everyone would just leave the vamps alone already. That isn't going to happen though so I'll just have to hope NEW MOON reaffirms my belief in the possible love between a teenage girl and a decades old man who can potentially suck every drop of blood out of her at any moment.

DRAG ME TO HELL

Written by Ivan Raimi and Sam Raimi
Directed by Sam Raimi
Starring Alison Lohman, Justin Long and Lorna Raver


I just recently left a job at a bank and after seeing DRAG ME TO HELL, I sure am glad I did. This lovely, young woman, Christine Brown (Alison Lohman), tries so hard. She goes to work every day and does her best to impress her boss so she can get that promotion. She bakes family cake recipes from scratch to bring with her when she meets her boyfriend’s parents for the first time. She’s just trying to carve out a little spot for herself in the world. And then one day, in order to show her boss that she can make the hard decisions necessary in these trying economic times, she refuses to give an ill, elderly lady a third extension on her mortgage payments. Christine chooses personal career growth over human compassion and subsequently, Christine must go straight to hell.


The elderly lady is a Mrs. Ganush (Lorna Raver, who is absolutely repulsive and terrifying at all times). She comes from gypsies and she will have none of this behaviour. She knows that Christine could have done right by her had she really wanted to and so decides that Christine no longer deserves to live. In a turn that isn’t nearly taken as often as it should these days, Mrs. Ganush places a curse on Christine. The curse, as it is explained to Christine by a psychic she stumbles upon named Rham Jas (Dileep Rao), will find her tormented by a demon called the Lamia for three days. After these three days, the Lamia will return to take her soul to hell. It seems to me that Christine’s life already resembled hell but I guess it can always be worse. (You would be agreeing with me too if you saw what it was like for Christine to have Justin Long for a boyfriend – what a boring sap he is).


It sounds as though I’m poking fun but that’s only because DRAG ME TO HELL is a lot of unexpected fun. Raimi doesn’t cheap out on jump out of your seat scares that are usually accompanied by involuntary screeches but he does so a knowing admiration for classical horror conventions. Raimi may have been swinging along for years in the SPIDER-MAN franchise but he goes back to his roots with this one. He plays with sounds that are so intensely jarring, they would scare the deaf. He plays with shadows because he knows that what we cannot see is so much more frightening than what we can. Raimi plays, period. He knows, as well as his brother, Ivan, who co-wrote the screenplay, that scaring people is supposed to be fun. How else can one explain how something as simple as a handkerchief can become one of the most menacing devices I have ever seen? DRAG ME TO HELL is disgusting to watch and will gross you out but you’ll delight in every fright and desperately want the next to come. I don’t recall ever having as much going to hell.



FUN FACT: This was supposed to be Ellen Page's first post-JUNO role but she had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts.

BLU-TUESDAY .. June 2

June is a little spotty from week to week when it comes to quality titles finding their way to Blu-Ray. The second though is certainly a strong start though. Romantic charmer, HE’S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU, the fourth season of WEEDS and Spike Lee’s 2006 hit, INSIDE MAN all make their BD debuts. I am more intrigued by these though …

REVOLUTIONARY ROAD
There is no question in my mind. This film was far too harshly criticized upon its release late last year. The reunion of Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio as crumbling couple, Frank and April Wheeler, under the direction of AMERICAN BEAUTY director and Winslet’s husband, Sam Mendes was highly anticipated for all of these reasons. The subject matter though was too bitter for audiences to appreciate, including myself. Too much yelling perhaps. I decided to give it a second chance in theatres though and quickly saw the beauty behind the Wheeler’s marriage. It isn’t perfect but what marriage is? It is one of the most memorable film experiences of 2008 and I cannot wait to welcome the Wheeler’s into my home. It comes with …

- Dolby digital 5.1 surround sound
- Commentary with Mendes and screenwriter, Justin Haythe
- “Lives of Quiet Desperation” (making of)
- Deleted scenes


THE GRADUATE
There is a reason why this Mike Nichols classic is still taught in classes forty years after its initial release. Sure, it was far ahead of its time and contains some of the most memorable moments in film history but for me, it just feels alive. Nichols won the Oscar for his direction (the film itself lost in every single other category it was nominated for). His eye can be felt in every focus decision; his hands felt in each movement of the camera. Nichols is constantly thinking about how to push this story visually but never unaware of the incredible performances he pulled from a strapping, young Dustin Hoffman the title character and a radiant Anne Bancroft as the infamous, Mrs. Robinson. My only concern is that the film has been rushed onto BD. Details on the features are scarce and I’ve actually read that there may actually be none. In the meantime, this is all I know …

- 2-Disc set, including DVD copy
- HD Master Audio


DEFIANCE
This was another title that saw only modest returns in cinemas. The story itself is not the problem. In fact, the story itself is quite compelling and surprisingly original considering it is a WWII story. The Bielski brothers flee their homes after their parents are killed by Nazi supporters and find shelter in the forest. They run into about a thousand other fleeing Jews and stake their ground by setting up camp in the forest and fighting back against all who try to get at them. The trouble is that director, Edward Zwick (BLOOD DIAMOND) sensationalizes their bravery. He seems almost too proud to be telling this story of Jews fighting back; it is as though he knows the whole while that people will be surprised by what they are seeing. Still, by the time the film concludes, the story is left to speak for itself and, like I said before, it is a beautiful, story. Maybe Zwick’s commentary track will humble the whole experience. Also …

- “Defiance: Return to the Forest”

(don’t ask me what that is supposed to be)