Best of Black Sheep: IN THE LOOP

Written by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Arnando Iannucci and Tony Roche
Directed by Arnando Iannucci
Staring Tom Hollander, Chris Addison, Anna Chlumsky and James Gandolfini


Michael Rodgers: No, you needn’t worry about the Canadians; they’re always happy to be there. They’re always surprised to be invited.

EDITOR'S NOTE: IN THE LOOP is by far one of the most hilarious films I have seen all year and it is now available to rent and own, courtesy of Alliance Films here in Canada. Not only is it hilarious but it is also biting and fearless politically. Oh, and it has some of the most outlandishly foul language I've ever heard on film. See this film! Here are the extras on the home video release:

Deleted Scenes
Audio Commentary with Cast and Director
Interview with Gina McKee and Chris Addison
Interview with Tom Hollander
Interview with Peter Capaldi
Interview with Director Armando Ianucci
Trailer
Webisodes

And now, here is my review from its theatrical release this past summer.


Pretty much everyone knows what it means to be in the loop and naturally, pretty much everyone wants to be there as often as possible. When it comes to the political players of British comedian, Arnando Iannucci’s first feature film, IN THE LOOP, people are falling in and out of the loop several times an hour. To watch them all scramble makes for two hours of absolutely hilarious political satire that not only exposes the buffoonery of both the American and British governments but also exposes the harsh realities that come to existence because no one seems to know what they’re doing.


That isn’t quite fair. Everyone in IN THE LOOP seems to know what they’re doing, well mostly. They’re just doing everything for their own gain without any regard for the people who elected them to be there. This isn’t exactly a revelation but the language in which Iannucci lets us in his own personal loop is certainly pretty close to revelatory. Never before have I heard such inspired, outrageous dialogue. For instance, I have never heard anyone referred to as a lubricated horse cock before. If you can handle the dirt, then IN THE LOOP will pull so many laughs from your gut that you will feel as though you have been doing crunches the entire time you’ve been watching it.


IN THE LOOP tells its own version of how the United States and Britain convinced (or conned, depending on how you want to see it) the United Nations that they could go to war in Iraq despite their objections. Granted, they are still there and people are dying so perhaps we shouldn’t be laughing this hard but that’s the great thing about satire when it is done right. It is not only sharp, brilliant and hysterical but it is also a scathing condemnation on war profiteering and personal gain at any expense. Iannucci has plenty of experience with the topic, having produced the British show, “The Thick of It”, which IN THE LOOP is based on, and he uses his expertise to cut through the superfluous so that he can kick hard where it truly hurts.


It pays to be those in the know. When the potential of the Iraq war was being talked up all over the news and Washington, those of us sitting at home were frustrated because we were simply not in that particular loop. We were being fed certain stories that were being used as justifications and even though none of it seemed to be based in any fact, we had to accept it for what it was because there was no way for us disprove any of it. IN THE LOOP finally gets us in there, even though it is making it all up as it goes along. That’s the funniest part though; they were making it all up back then too.

Black Sheep @ The Box Office: Christmas Comes Early ... Too Early

It seemed promising enough on Friday. Robert Zemeckis's expensive remake of A CHRISTMAS CAROL, starring Jim Carrey, debuted strong, prompting some to expect a weekend take north of $40 million. The final tally came in around $31 million and begs the question, why? Could be that audiences aren't ready for Christmas just yet but it could also be that audiences are not connecting with Zemeckis's obsession with motion capture animation. His previous effort, THE POLAR EXPRESS, was hardly a resounding success and the word on A CHRISTMAS CAROL is that some of it works but it is just as cold and lifeless this time out with Carrey as it was with Tom Hanks. The past and present are pretty shaky for motion capture animation so unless the ghost of Christmas future has a few tricks in store, Zemeckis might have to go back to making movies the old fashioned way ... just once.


This week's big winner is a pleasant surprise. Yes, it won the Audience Award at this year's Toronto International Film Festival. Yes, Mo'Nique was on Ellen and Mariah did Larry King this week. And yes, Oprah has been telling all of her minions to see it for weeks now. Still, PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL "PUSH" BY SAPPHIRE is difficult movie to watch so it would naturally repel certain viewers. I'm happy to report that audiences in the four cities that it is currently playing in decided not to cower but to face the harshness head on. PRECIOUS earned over $1.8 million on just 18 screens in all of America. That makes its $100K per screen average a record breaker for an urban picture and one of the 25 greatest per screen averages of all time. It should be noted that the greater per screens are for lower screen counts, making PRECIOUS look even more impressive. Best Picture, here we come? (Note: Black Sheep's interview with the director and star is coming soon!)


There was a lot of other activity in the Top 10 and for the first time in while, it wasn't paranormal. PARANORMAL ACTIVITY did continue to hold up well though. I can't say I understand why now that Halloween is done with and everyone should know by now that it isn't anywhere near as scary as was suggested. Its continued success may explain why THE FOURTH KIND did not blow up, instead managing a respectable fourth place finish. Coming in ahead at number three was the George Clooney/Ewan MacGregor war farce, THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS. Adult films are harder and harder to sell and subsequently, the $13 million debut is considered to be a win for Overture. Neither film was able to take down MICHAEL JACKSON'S THIS IS IT. I finally caught that one this weekend and the theatre was definitely packed so Jackson's music is alive and well. I cannot say the same for Richard Kelley's follow-up to DONNIE DARKO, THE BOX. The film, which fizzled in sixth place, asks if you would take a million dollars if you knew someone random in the world would die. The answer: Nobody cares.


NEXT WEEK: PRECIOUS will expand slowly and Wes Anderson's first foray into animation, FANTASTIC MR. FOX, debuts on 4 screens. I caught it this week ... see it! PIRATE RADIO wants to dominate the airwaves on 900 screens but none of this matters. Nope because next week the world ends when 2012 debuts on 3000+ screens. It was nice knowing you.

SOURCE: Box Office Mojo

ABC: E is for EDWARD SCISSORHANDS

EDWARD SCISSORHANDS
Written by Caroline Thompson
Directed by Tim Burton
Starring Johhny Depp, Winona Ryder, Dianne Wiest and Alan Arkin


I can’t say how many years it has been since I last saw Tim Burton’s EDWARD SCISSORHANDS but I can say that I wasn’t prepared to have it come over me the way that it did when I watched it again recently. There I was, just sitting in my living room alone one night, taking notes on this variation of the “Frankenstein” story, and before it ended, I was crying. I was fully moved by the palpable love that was emanating from my screen and then I remembered something … This is a Tim Burton movie and I’m overwhelmed with love. Hmmm …


In case you’re not familiar, this 1990 film, tells the story of Edward, a man-made man who was unfortunately unfinished at the time of the inventor’s death. He had a head, a heart and a soul but he had no hands. In their place, he had scissors. Having scissors for hands and no interaction with anyone for an undetermined amount of years left Edward detached from society and, without the reassuring touch of another human being, he felt incapable of connecting. He lived in peace, albeit lonesome, atop a hill in a mansion that overlooked this quaint suburban Burbank neighborhood, until one day, when none other than Peg, the Avon lady, knocked on his door. When Peg (Dianne Wiest) saw that Edward (Johnny Depp) needed so much more than cosmetics, she decided to take him home with her. What she didn’t anticipate was how a supposedly normal society would react to such a supposed freak.


Burton considers EDWARD SCISSORHANDS to be one of his most personal works and, when you consider it to be the birthplace of so many recurring Burton themes and motifs, it is easy to see why. Burton himself grew up in Burbank and, although I cannot personally attest to his accuracy in recreating it, I can certainly feel what it must have been like for such a unique artist to have grown up in this type of environment. Edward, with his pale skin, unkempt black hair and, well, scissors for hands, is at first the object of total fascination in this community that consists of cookie-cutter houses that vary in pastel exteriors. Inside these houses are men who all leave for work at the same every day and their wives, the originally desperate ones, who need the drama of the neighborhood to give their lives meaning. With everyone playing house, there is no room for different and no reference as to how to deal with it.


Being the outsider, being misunderstood, being dark and having people wrongly equate that with evil – these are all themes that Burton is obsessed with and certainly also themes that spring directly from his own experiences with society. EDWARD SCISSORHANDS allows him to put himself out there and allows the viewer to see what he presumes to be how a wider audience will react to him. And so, his expectation is that they will embrace and admire his differences at first but eventually come to revile him for them. A burst of excitement is all these rutted people crave but they learn quickly that they prefer the comfort that ruts also often offer. Of course, Burton’s onscreen representation is exaggerated by Depp. At this stage in his career, Depp was seen as merely a teen idol, which was not meshing with how he wanted to be seen or where he wanted his career to go. With his sweet face covered in makeup and scars, Depp was able to show audiences his Keaton-esque side – his humour, his empathy and his charm.


At one point, Edward is on a daytime talk show and one of the audience members asks him if he would have his scissors replaced by hands if that were possible. Edward doesn’t hesitate and says, “Yes.” But then, the lady in the audience points out, he would be just like everyone else, that there would be nothing special about him. This is where this unexpected Burton-esque optimism fills the screen. Peg, sitting next to Edward, says that he will always be special. In that moment, we are all Edward. We all have something unique about us that, if we cannot hide, ostracizes us from everyone else. When you live your life removed from everyone, you do not know the healing qualities of human touch. And when no one has touched you in a long time, you can lose the confidence to reach out and touch someone else. You may even think that you are not even capable of it.


Behind the scissors that keep everyone at a distance, Edward is just a man and, like any man with a sensitive heart, he simply wants to love. And what could be more lovely than the image of a young Winona Ryder spinning freely underneath the snow-like shavings of an ice sculpture that Edward is carving just for her? With EDWARD SCISSORHANDS, Burton shares this wonderful gift with his Edward, with his audience and with himself. Suddenly, the Burbank boy that always felt different knows what its like to touch the hearts of others.

Paranormal Goat Activity

Ok, so I love this trailer. I thoroughly enjoyed THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS and actually thought that PARANORMAL ACTIVITY was one of the biggest disappointments of the year, a lame goat, if you will. That said, I am loving this mashup!

Best of Black Sheep: THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS

I’m not sure what I was expecting considering the title. I can say that what I got from Grant Heslov’s new film, THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS, I could never have expected even if I tried. Heslov tells you right away that most of what you’re about to see is truer than you would think, which implies that at least some of what you’re about to see is a fat lie. What actually follows is so entirely ludicrous that it’s hard to imagine it as either made up or the truth. The other thing I wasn’t expecting before going in was laughing as hard and as often as I did.


Ewan McGregor is back in familiar territory as an earnest, likeable lead. He plays reporter and underachiever, Bob Wilton. His wife has just left him and he has, in turn, left the United States for Iraq. It is 2003 and he wants to prove to the world and himself that he is worth something by writing the best post-Iraq war feature ever written. He decides the best angle for his story is to be found with Lyn Cassidy (George Clooney). Cassidy, an army man himself, used to roll with the U.S. Army’s New Earth Division, a division based on the principal that peace is the only thing that can actually win a war and that takes from the paranormal studies to develop its weaponry and calls its top soldiers Jedi warriors. Cassidy himself is said to be able to stare at goats long enough to make their hearts stop. How the U.S. army could have funded any of this is beyond me but it was … or at least some of it was.


I’ll be honest; I am not sure whether Heslov is suggesting that this approach is just as nonsensical as the military methods that we’re familiar with now or that war makes no sense no matter what your plan of attack is. All I know is that when McGregor asks Clooney what a Jedi warrior is, the theatre erupts in laughter. Now, that’s using the force.

Best of Black Sheep: 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.”

Editor's Note:
FOOD INC, one of the most compelling and essential documentaries of the year is now available on DVD courtesy of Alliance Films. The DVD release itself contains the following extras:

- Deleted Scenes
- Celebrity Public Service Announcements
- Resources
- ABC News Nightline "You Are What You Eat": Food With Integrity
- "The Amazing Food Detective" and "Snacktown Smackdown": Stay Active and Eat Healthy

Please take the time to check out this fantastic film. I know that knowing what you're really eating is frightening but it is also vital to your health. In the meantime, here is my review of the film from its theatrical release ...


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.

Black Sheep @ The Box Office: The Saw Is Finally Dull

It may not be too fair to say so but it would seem that the SAW series has finally warn out its welcome. Ordinarily, it isn't Halloween if it isn't SAW but the sixth installment of the consistently successful franchise pulled in less than half of what the fifth film did. The reason I say it may not be fair to send SAW to the grave just yet is because the SAW series has never had a force as monumental as PARANORMAL ACTIVITY to deal with in past years. This phenomenon added over 1100 screens this week and saw its earnings increase another 12% for a first place finish six weeks after its initial release. With Halloween coming next week, there is no question that the film will continue to haunt minds and multiplexes for at least the next little while.


Last week's champ, WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE, suffered a non-too-surprising 55% drop, suggesting that fans have come and gone already and that it doesn't have the legs to really let loose. Still, it was the top family draw this weekend as audiences showed little interest in the animated big screen adaptation of ASTRO BOY, which landed hard in sixth place. That landing is nothing compared to the nosedive crash of AMELIA. The Hilary Swank Oscar bait missed out on the Top 10 entirely, coming in 11th place, with just over $4 million. Other notable films this week include continued success for the Coen Brothers' A SERIOUS MAN (12th place finish with a 34% increase), Chris Rock's documentary, GOOD HAIR (pulling in over $1 million on 460 screens), the delicate and lovely AN EDUCATION ($13K per screen average, more than any other film in release) and the not to be missed, THE DAMNED UNITED (115% increase on 36 screens). Finally, Lars Von Trier's latest, ANTICHRIST, debuted to an average of $12K per screen on just six screens and will expand next week. Speaking of which ...

NEXT WEEK: Nobody wants to get in the way of the king ... Michael Jackson's THIS IS IT is the only major release next week, hitting 3400 screens on Wednesday for a limited time. I don't know about you but I am very curious to see if this is really it finally.

SOURCE: Box Office Mojo

AN EDUCATION

Written by Nick Hornby
Directed by Lone Scherfig
Starring Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard, Alfred Molina and Emma Thompson


Jenny: All that poetry and all those songs for something that doesn’t last long at all.

For a young lady in the 1960’s, options were slim. Girls went to school to learn about Latin and literature but also, and perhaps more importantly, to learn about posture and poise. Educated or not, a lady must be proper first and foremost and able to provide for her man as he sees fit. And if one of these fine girls also happened to show academic promise, then she could push herself as hard as possible to go on to higher learning. Unfortunately, all that would be waiting for her on the other side would be marriage or maybe a teaching job. There is really nothing wrong with either of those options but it does seem an awful lot of work to get there and one wonders why go through all the trouble. The understated beauty of Lone Scherfig’s AN EDUCATION is how it allows for life to do what it will regardless of chosen paths, schooling its characters and subsequently enlightening its audience.


Jenny (Carey Mulligan) is but 16. She is the only girl in her classes who seems to get anything at all and it isn’t long before she starts to see through it all. One day, while she waits for a ride in the rain, a strange yet handsome man of nearly twice her age (Peter Sarsgaard) pulls up alongside her to offer her a lift. He is witty and charming and their chemistry is almost instantly perfect. When she accepts his offer, she essentially goes against the number one rule enforced by all parents – never get in a strange man’s car. Naturally, it feels terribly wrong. Given his age, what could he possibly want from this girl? Still, he is dapper and has a wonderful way about himself. Mulligan is boisterous and beautiful in this breakout performance, one that will certainly get her some well deserved notice. And of course, Sarsgaard is easily likable as her suitor, David. Together, they just click and before long, the initial hesitation is set aside so that their love can be given a shot.


Natural reticence is part of what makes AN EDUCATION such an engaging experience. Jenny is precious. She has great potential and parents (Alfred Molina and Cara Seymour) that, while strict, clearly hold her in the highest regard. And yet still, these educated people allow David to breeze into their home with his dashing good looks and pockets full of money and make them completely ignore his age and his intentions for their daughter. Her father will not allow her to enjoy anything on her own that doesn’t directly enhance her scholastic education but when a handsome man comes knocking, it would seem that marrying his daughter off, especially to someone so well to do, is a lot more affordable than sending her to Oxford. At the same time, Jenny is completely taken with the life of fancy that David offers and begins to see how being taken care of can be a lot easier than taking care of yourself.


Nick Hornby’s elegant screenplay poses a very familiar dilemma to the audience. What is more valuable – a formal and well rounded education in a class room or the kind of learning that only comes when experiencing life outside of the classroom? What makes this simple question so complex in AN EDUCATION is that it constantly forces you to reevaluate where you stand on the subject, subsequently reminding you that nothing is as simple as you think when love is involved. I learned a thing or two myself while I sat back and absorbed this masterful picture. The main lesson? AN EDUCATION, both the film and the arduous right of passage, are both well worth the time.

BLU-REVIEW: WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY

Watching a kids’ movie when you’re actually a kid is really something. Watching that same movie years later can be pretty risky. You could taint the entire memory by watching it with jaded, adult eyes. Or, if you want to see things more positively, maybe you get to escape your difficult adult life for a couple of hours and feel what it felt like to be a kid again. With WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, just re-released by Warner Home Video as a BD book, the experience offers a little from column A and a little more from column B. I don’t remember the oompa-loompas being quite so judgmental but I had also forgotten something infinitely more important – that anyone can find a golden ticket if they look for it.


The picture has been beautifully restored, allowing Mr. Wonka’s factory, made almost entirely of candy and chocolate, to burst with fruit flavour right off the screen. The budgetary and technological limitations that the production would have endured in 1971 are fairly evident now but the unbridled imagination of director, Mel Stuart, and writer, Roald Dahl, still shine through. As for the preachy lessons each little girl and boy learn along their journey from the little orange men who run Wonka’s factory, whether it be not to be a brat or not to watch too much television, they certainly can be a little jarring. That said, what does one expect from a film that was originally conceived to be a promotional tool to launch the new Wonka chocolate bar from Quaker Oats?


The BD book is naturally stunning. Each page explodes with colour and the content is a great surface read about the production and its players. Special features include a vintage featurette from the period about the film’s art direction as well as a new featurette that allows us to catch up with all the kids and of course, Mr. Wonka himself, the incredible Gene Wilder. The feature commentary track that reunites all the kids from the film is a little awkward but who needs that when all the songs have a sing-along option?

Who can take tomorrow, wrap it in a dream, suck out all the sorrow and collect up all the cream? You guessed it; the candyman can! And thanks to this new BD re-issue, the candyman can for generations to come.

FILM & BD FEATURES:

Black Sheep @ The Box Office: Number 1 Is Where they Are

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE was originally slated for release in the spring of 2008. It was delayed until the fall of 2008 and then delayed again for a whole year because Warner Brothers and director, Spike Jonze, could not reach a place where they were both happy with the film. Maurice Sendak's book is considered to be one of the most popular children's books of all time and Warner Bros. was afraid that Jonze's stark interpretation was too real to appeal to kids. Once again, the little guys have been underestimated.

Warner's worries were appeased on Friday when WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE pulled in $12.1 million, a record one-day gross for a live-action picture in October. The film polled an A- grade from filmgoers and the love was spread across the weekend, allowing Jonze's third film to easily surpass its competition and become its own king. The second place was nowhere near the $32.5 million gross WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE pulled in but it was an interesting race regardless. In a tight race, the win went to LAW ABIDING CITIZEN - the one where Gerard Butler takes on the judicial system and Jamie Foxx from inside prison. Just another unbelievable premise that was seen by another unbelievable amount of people. Giving Butler and Foxx a run for their money was the third place, PARANORMAL ACTIVITY. Up another 155% this week after adding 600 more screens. That scorching $26K per screen average suggests that come next weekend, this Halloween may not be about SAW at all. The very happy people at Paramount will be bumping the theatre count up to about 1800. The only other debut this week, THE STEPFATHER, was met with about as little interest as I met my real-life stepfather with, pulling in just over $12 million for a fifth place finish.


Below the Top 10, two emerging Oscar contenders continued to perform well in limited runs. Both the Coen Brothers' A SERIOUS MAN and AN EDUCATION saw solid increases as their expansions proceeded. COCO AVANT CHANEL and THE DAMNED UNITED enjoyed solid holds on their audiences but showed no signs that a wide release would amount to anything. And NEW YORK, I LOVE YOU, a collection of short films inspired by the similar project, PARIS JE T'AIME, failed to excite anyone the same way the city itself does, pulling in an average of $3K on approximately 115 screens. New York, we love you but we see you on screen enough as it is, I think.

NEXT WEEK: SAW VI looks to get the early jump on Halloween as it slices its way onto 3000 screens. Opening with a similar theatre count, the big screen adaptation of ASTRO BOY. In case you aren't tired of vampires yet, you can catch John C. Reilly and Selma Hayek in CIRQUE DU FREAK: THE VAMPIRE'S ASSISTANT (2750 screens). And in case you aren't tired of Hilary Swank appearing in Oscar bait yet, you can catch her turn as Amelia Earhart in AMELIA (800 screens).

SOURCE: Box Office Mojo

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE

Written by Spike Jonze and David Eggers
Directed by Spike Jonze
Starring Max Records, Catherine Keener and Mark Ruffalo
Voices by James Gandolfini, Catherine O’Hara, Forest Whitaker, Chris Cooper and Lauren Ambrose


Judith: Happiness isn’t always the best way to become happy.

It’s been a fair amount of time since I was a young boy. Fortunately for me, it has not been so long that I have grown past the age where I can get completely lost in the wonderful world of Spike Jonze’s WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE. Jonze must have had to fight his own wild beasts during his lengthy and tumultuous journey to bring the 1963 Maurice Sendak classic picturebook to such exquisite life. Originally due to be released in the spring of 2008, Jonze had to fight the studio to make the film he wanted and believed in when it was being criticized for being too dark a work to be considered a family film. A year and a half later, Jonze has made a film that both parties are happy with and, while it still may be too dark to play to the littler ones, WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE is a modern family classic in every possible sense.


In the original Sendak tale, Max (played here by the precocious boy with the power name, Max Records) is sent to bed without supper for being bad. From there, he escapes to another world complete with a monster community that he incorporates himself into quite nicely. When his adventures are over, he returns home to find a plate of food waiting for him by his bed. At under 500 words, it’s pretty sparse but Jonze, alongside AWAY WE GO co-writer and novelist, David Eggers, has transformed WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE into a contemporary exploration of how a child might deal with the changing face of his family and finding a way to fit in it. Max’s Mom (Catherine Keener) still sends him to bed without supper for acting up but his wild outburst now has context and his adventure offers a healing that stretches past the troubled boy to touch the inner child of anyone watching.


The wild things themselves are mostly giant, furry monsters and precisely where Max stumbles upon them is never pinpointed but, once he gets there, he declares himself king and rightfully so. After all, this place is essentially inside his head and even with the wild things running, well, wild in there, he is still aware enough to know that he is in charge of all these extensions of his own personality. Max’s family issues are mirrored in Carol (voiced by James Gandolfini), a monster with his own difficulties keeping his rage in check. Whether the monsters and Max are trying to build a perfect living space or whether they are just pouncing on top of each other in one big giant pile, they are doing things together and the conversations that take place in between are simple musings, not unlike those that Max might have with himself in his mind. Never do Max’s two worlds resolve each other perfectly but nor could one live without the other.


WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE is simply unlike anything I’ve ever seen. The screenplay is elegant and uncomplicated; its ferocious beauty is matched only by the magnificence of its aesthetic. With the help of two-time collaborator and handheld guru, Lance Acord, Jonze creates a world that is at times tender and warm while at others, frightening and fragile. Who would ever expect a family film to be so visceral, let alone so disarming? Learning to accept your family, or even life, as it is can be difficult at any age but leaning into it brings security and tames the wildness of the mind. Perhaps we all could stand to learn a lesson from Max and get a little wild when needed instead of always quieting what needs to get out. While WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE may be lost on the truly young, it will not be lost on the young at heart.

CONTEST: FESTIVAL DE NOUVEAU CINEMA (MONTREAL)

Montreal's Festival de Nouveau Cinema is well underway and the good folks at the festival want to give Black Sheep readers the opportunity to see two of the more buzzed about films playing in the next couple of days. Be the first person to contact me at joseph.belanger@gmail.com with the name of the film you want to see and your name will be added to the guest list for the screening. The pass is for two.

Here are the film details (synopses provided by the festival):

Trash Humpers @ the Imperial, 15 October 21h30Harmony Korine | U.S.A. | 2009 | 78 min. | English

Three very strange old men (of the dim, coarse grotesque type devoted to frantic idiocy) go about their usual pastimes. What kind of pastimes, you ask? Well, what they like most is dirty stuff. Particularly dumpster fucking. They also like poetry, murder, doing wheelies on bikes, while dragging dolls, obese hookers singing “Silent Night”, and wondering if the world would be a better place if people were headless. OK, so like it or not, could these guys be on to something?

Eccentricities of a Blond Haired Girl @ the Imperial, 16 October 18h00
Manoel de Oliveira | Portugal, France, Spain | 2009 | 63 min. | Portuguese (s.t. English)

Luisa, young and blonde, sits at her window in Lisbon holding an exotic Chinese fan. Across the street, working in his uncle Francesco’s office, Macário watches her and falls under her spell. He immediately makes up his mind to marry her. But between the romantic dream of this innocent young man and the reality, there are miles to go and much to learn, not the least of which is the discovery that one should always be wary of mysterious, young, blonde women. Adapted from a short story by realist writer Eça de Queiroz, the Portuguese Consul-General in Paris in 1888, Eccentricities of a Blond Hair Girl is a timeless, moral tale told with effortless and arresting simplicity. Director Manoel de Oliveira, now 100 years old, offers his charming and mischievous musings on love elegantly recounted with beguiling twists and turns and just the right touch of fantasy.

Black Sheep would like to thank the Festival de Nouveau Cinema for this great opportunity and should you need any more information about these films or any of the other fantastic films still left to screen, check out the festival website. The Festival de Nouveau Cinema runs until Sunday, October 18.

Black Sheep @ The Box Office: The Sheep Retreats

I am in Montreal, visiting my family and friends for Thanksgiving, the Canadian one. Therefore, there will be no official box office report this week. Just a brief message to ask the filmgoers what is exactly wrong with them? Hollywood throws a bunch of oafish funny men and their pretty wives with whiny, pathetic problems into a tropical paradise so that they can complain about being there and you all run in droves to buy tickets to see COUPLES RETREAT. Bad moviegoers, bad. Meanwhile, last week's champ, ZOMBIELAND, which I hear is kick-ass, held up well, as did fellow Sony holdover, CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS, which I did finally see this weekend and did not stop laughing practically the entire way. Even last week's disappointments, THE INVENTION OF LYING and WHIP IT and FAME have capitalized on decent word of mouth to manage nimimal declines. Michael Moore's CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY couldn't seem to capitalize on anything. If you haven't seen the TOY STORY double feature, do it soon, as it is only in theatres until Thursday and, having seen it yesterday, I can tell you it is a real nostalgic treat and has been restored to greatness. The big story of the week though in the Top 10 is clearly PARANORMAL ACTIVITY. This horror flick reportedly cost $11K to make and this week pulled a per screen average of four times that on just 160 screens and has now pulled in over $8 million. Below the Top 10, Chris Rock's documentary, GOOD HAIR and TIFF success, THE DAMNED UNITED, had solid but not groundbreaking starts. COCO AVANT CHANEL and A SERIOUS MAN pursued their successful expansions. And Oscar hopeful, AN EDUCATION took in an average of $40K per screen, schooling everyone else on how it's done.

NEXT WEEK: Cheap thrillers, THE STEPFATHER and LAW ABIDING CITIZEN open on 2700 screens each but the biggie and the one I cannot wait for is Spike Jonze's WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE, getting wild on over 3500 screens.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Source: Box Office Mojo

Remembering the year 2005

CRASH
Written by Paul Haggis and Robert Moresco
Directed by Paul Haggis

NOTE: This article has spoilers aplenty and should not be read by anyone who has not seen the movie.


I can still remember the feeling of my stomach dropping when Jack Nicholson announced that the 2005 Best Picture Oscar was being awarded to Paul Haggis’s CRASH, and not the frontrunner, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN. I wasn’t the only one either who was floored; you could here the jarred pause in Nicholson’s voice when he announced it. The signs were pointing in that direction throughout the evening. First, CRASH took Best Editing, the only award it won that I genuinely feel it warranted, keeping all those simultaneously told stories in check and well balanced. Then it came along and took Best Original Screenplay. I say took but I really mean robbed considering there were three better screenplays that should have won (Woody Allen’s MATCH POINT, George Clooney and Grant Heslov’s GOODNIGHT AND GOOD LUCK and Josh Olsen's A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE). After those two wins combined with the previous win for Best Ensemble Cast at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, taking it all became a serious possibility. After it happened, the guests at my Oscar party could seriously see I was disappointed, distraught even. I popped Gustavo Santaolalla’s BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN score and began picking up after the mess.



It’s not that I don’t care for CRASH. I was just as mortified when Matt Dillon had his hands up Thandie Newton’s dress and just as gripped when he had to rescue her from her burning vehicle the next day. I was just as devastated when that adorable little girl was shot and just as exalted to witness the man-made miracle that allowed for her to survive. CRASH is not without its merits. Incredibly powerful scenes made all the more poignant by often surprising turns by Dillon, Newton, Terrence Howard and Michael Pena. To call it Best Picture though meant ignoring its condescending and manipulative storytelling techniques in favor of the ignorance it so aggressively draws to the surface. Of course race, prejudice and hatred are just as relevant now as they always have been despite the advances made, but Haggis, and I doubt he did it intentionally, preys on his viewer by using the inherent ignorance in each of us to make the film seem superior and revelatory.


CRASH takes place in a rough 24-hour period. In that period, a handful of Los Angeles inhabitants from all walks of life experience so much suffering that you would think the end of the world had arrived. Now, all that transpires is certainly possible but too darn convenient for me to swallow. Newton and Howard are seriously abused by a racist police officer (Dillon) one night and the next day, she ends up in a massive car accident and he ends up in a carjacking that turns into a run-in with the law. I bet the “Honey, how was your day?” conversation between those two had to be impressive after that. And imagine when Newton reveals that Dillon had to save her from the car and Howard is flabbergasted because Dillon’s partner (Ryan Phillippe) from the night before ended up saving his ass earlier that day. The scene between Newton and Dillon in the car cannot work as effectively if the previous scene they share doesn’t happen first but the odds are too overwhelming for me to accept. If this storyline stood on its own then perhaps it would be easier but taken with everything else, it all just feels as though Haggis is moving the pieces on the board one at a time to make the game play out as he needs instead of how it might.


The other writing technique that infuriates me more and more with further viewings of CRASH is the way Haggis delights in playing with his viewer’s ignorance. Larenz Tate and Ludacris walk down a trendy L.A. street at night and debate racial complacency and prevalence in modern society. They look like thugs but everything they’re saying about contemporary attitudes toward race make so much sense to me and must naturally appeal to my white liberal sensibility. It is so obvious that Haggis wants us to sympathize with these poor black guys who can’t get a break. Consequently, we are also supposed to feel disdain for Sandra Bullock and Brandan Fraser as they walk past in their fancy outfits toward their expensive car. Not because their combined acting performances cannot amount to anything more than embarrassment (which might explain why they are the least featured characters in the ensemble) but rather because they judged these fine, young gentlemen by the colour of their skin as they walked past them. They assumed that they look like thugs and therefore must be. Imagine the audience’s shock and disgust with themselves when the thugs actually are thugs and they steal the white people’s cars. Haggis spends all this time exposing the audience’s ignorance in hopes of opening their eyes to it but he finishes by simply reinforcing the stereotypes and insulting my intelligence.



I am aware that I am gay and I am siding with the gay-themed film but BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN had won nearly every major award leading up to the Oscars and was considered a near-lock. The win for CRASH only shows me that the mainstream Academy was not ready to bestow accolades so publicly on a gay-themed film. Not to mention, that as a gay man, I am still a minority, just an invisible one. This can get pretty ugly sometimes when people don’t censor themselves because they don’t realize that we are among them. I suffer prejudice; I am still fighting for some basic human rights because I am still seen as less than human. It is exactly this kind of hatred that makes it impossible for the characters in BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN to experience the love they are so obviously meant to. It is also the exact kind of hatred that CRASH tries so hard to bring to light but yet shines no light on the plight of the gays because theirs is not a racial issue. It still sure feels that way sometimes. As for the love that BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN fights so hard to foster, troubled or not, the characters in CRASH still get to have that and don’t even see for a second how fortunate they are for that opportunity. Despite this, they choose to live in their misery and all any of them can seem to do is blame everything bad in their lives on race.



Black Sheep’s 2005 Top 10

BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, Directed by Ang Lee
CAPOTE, Bennett Miller
THE CONSTANT GARDENER, Fernando Meirelles
GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK, Grant Heslov
A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE, David Cronenberg
MARCH OF THE PENGUINS, Luc Jacquet
MATCH POINT, Woody Allen
MUNICH, Steven Spielberg
MYSTERIOUS SKIN, Gregg Araki
THE SQUID AND THE WHALE, Noah Baumbach
WALK THE LINE, James Mangold