Out of the Past: The Week In Film

The Banal, the Blah, the Banausic:
1. Terminator Salvation (2009) Dir. McG - US

Guilty Pleasure Cinema:
1. The Bodyguard (1992) Dir. Mick Jackson - US
2. The Man With Two Brains (1983) Dir. Carl Reiner - US

Astounding Cinema:
7. All the Real Girls (2003) Dir. David Gordon Greene - US
6. Dodsworth (1936) Dir. William Wyler - US
5. The Closet (2001) Dir. Frances Veber - France
4. My Summer of Love (2004) Dir. Pawel Pawlikowski - UK
3. The Station Agent (2003) Dir. Thomas McCarthy - US
2. Mahogany (1975) Dir. Berry Gordy - US
1. Imitation of Life (1959) Dir. Douglas Sirk - US

Theatrical Screenings:
2. Up in the Air (2009) Dir. Jason Reitman - US 8/10
1. The Messenger (2009) Dir. Oren Moverman - US 10/10

Terminator Salvation (2009): Mindless action, mindless characters, and lack of plot make this a yawn and a half. Christian Bale shouts his way throughout the flic (and knowing that he insisted on playing a character not originally written in the script doesn’t help) while Sam Worthington is given little to do. Why artists like Common, Helena Bonham Carter or Bryce Dallas Howard and Jane Alexander (WTF??) tagged along for this half baked turkey from director McG (Charlie’s Angels, 2000, We Are Marshall, 2006) is beyond me. Plus, if you’re unfamiliar with this, ummm, dramatic arch of the Terminator mythos, you might want to freshen up with the first two films from director James Cameron.

The Bodyguard (1992): If there’s any real reason to love The Bodyguard it would be for the music and Whitney Houston, basically playing herself, well, as of 1992, that is. While Whitney’s name may be now synonymous with crack head (though she’s attempting to market herself as ‘cleaned up,’ though it bums me out that she’s gone the route of the I found me some Jesus” campaign) here she was just a talented diva, playing a talented diva stalked by an obsessive fan. Though the film lacks any real charisma, this is hardly Houston’s fault. Co-star Kevin Costner is more robotic than a Stepford wife, and yes, I know he ‘modeled’ his performance after Steve McQueen---but whereas McQueen made robotic suave, Costner seems to be going through the motions. Director Lawrence Kasdan wrote this screenplay in the mid-70’s, and was meant to be a vehicle for Diana Ross and Steve McQueen, and then again for Ross and Ryan O’Neal---both pairings I would be intrigued to see. It also doesn’t help that director Mick Jackson has apparently no flair in the director’s seat.

The Man With Two Brians (1983): I wasn’t sure what to expect going into Carl Reiner’s 1983 Steve Martin headliner---at most, it’s an example of the insanity that Steve Martin used to bring to comedy. Basically, the film centers around a brain surgeon, Dr. Hfuhruhurr that’s being used by his gold digging wife (a gorgeous Kathleen Turner) who consistently denies her husband sex to keep him in line. However, Martin falls in love with a brain in a jar (voiced by Sissy Spacek) and screwball comedy ensues.

All the Real Girls (2003): David Gordon Greene’s follow-up to his critically acclaimed debut, George Washington (2000), All the Real Girls is an interesting entry in the works of Greene, who has since gone on to direct Snow Angels (2007), Pineapple Express (2008) and is currently developing a remake of Dario Argento’s Suspiria (2010)----wow! While Girls isn’t my favorite Greene picture, it’s certainly a beautiful, and sometimes moving film. Basically, it’s a story about the awkwardness of first time love between 18 year old Noel (Zooey Deschanel) and her older brother’s buddy, Paul (Paul Schneider), the small town male whore who lives with his mother, Elvira (Patricia Clarkson). Clarkson is the reason I own this film, though her part is small, she commands the screen as Paul’s gentle but understanding mother, performing as a clown for children in the hospital. While Deschanel and Schneider don’t exactly burn up the screen, it’s interesting to watch them navigate through their feelings---while not always touching, they’re completely realistic.

Dodsworth (1936): William Wyler’s adaptation of Sinclair Lewis’ novel seems quite ahead of it’s time for 1936, which documents the disintegrating marriage of a retired auto tycoon (Walter Huston in a touching performance) and his much younger wife of twenty years (Ruth Chatterton, who was no longer in films after the 1930’s). As they travel Europe, Chatterton finds a love interest in every port, it seems, the first of note being a young David Niven. As Huston comes to term with his wife’s philandering as a way to cling to her youth, he finds comfort in a mopey widow living as an ex-pat in Italy, played by the always rather mopey Mary Astor. You’ll clearly be on Huston’s side watching this one, but it’s an engrossing tale nonetheless.

The Closet (2001): Leave it to the French to hone this comedy of manners and societal sexuality mores a la La Cage au Folles (1978) with the similar The Closet (2001) starring French icons Daniel Auteuil and Gerard Depardieu. Auteuil stars as an accountant in a French rubber making firm, on the verge of being fired, despised by his coworkers for being dull and lifeless. His neighbor (Michel Aumont) convinces him to spread a rumor that he’s gay to spice up his reputation, which works. Auteuil keeps his job, improves his estranged relationship with his ex-wife and son, as well as some interesting dynamics that come about with his co-worker, Depardieu, previously the office’s greatest homophobe. While this film may have been more ‘cutting edge’ in 2001, I couldn’t help but feeling The Closet was a bit dated, here in 2009. Depardieu steals the show (Auteuil is a little hard to like in his role), but overall, a film to be appreciated.

My Summer of Love (2004): If you’ve seen Peter Jackson’s brilliant Heavenly Creatures (1994) then you’ll probably feel a more exacerbated dread than there really happens to be in Pawel Pawlikowski’s adaptation of My Summer of Love (2004). Basically, it’s all atmosphere, but that doesn’t mean some nasty little turns happen along the way, thanks to some lovely cinematography and a creepy performance from Emily Blunt as the poor, spoiled rich girl developing an unhealthy, lesbian friendship with a girl from the wrong side of the tracks, Natalie Press (who gives an excellent turn in Andrea Arnold’s short film, Wasp, 2003). Paddy Considine stars as Press’ brother, recently released from prison and converted into a religious fanatic. Parallels between religion and fantasy, realists and fakers makes My Summer of Love compelling beyond the surface, and an ending that may disappoint some viewers.

The Station Agent (2003): Ah, bless Patricia Clarkson, always radiant even while playing a depressed, estranged wife, whose child has recently died, striking up a friendship with Finbar McBride (Peter Dinklage), who has moved into the station agent’s abode, recently left to him by his dead friend and employer. Both have moved to this rural hamlet in New Jersey to be alone, but are united in friendship with the help of a lonely but rambunctious hot dog vendor (Bobby Canavale). A touching, heartfelt film from Tom McCarthy, who would go on to direct the 2007 indie hit, The Visitor.

Mahogany (1975): I don’t know what I was expecting from the 1975 Diana Ross vehicle, Mahogany, but I loved it. The only film to be directed by producer Berry Gordy (originally Tony Richardson had been slated to direct, but was fired), Mahogany has to be one of the strangest, most enjoyable narratives I’ve had the pleasure to watch. It doesn’t hurt that I absolutely love Ross’s theme song “Do You Know Where You’re Going To.” Ross plays an up and coming designer, discovered by a famous photography (Anthony Perkins) and jettisoned off to Rome as a model. However, their budding relationship is hampered by Perkin’s sexuality and the fact that Ross wants to get her name out as a designer. Mahogany sports two of the most insane scenes I’ve ever seen pop up in a film, one involving Billy Dee Williams and Perkins, the other with Perkins and Ross in an insane car scene. While it’s rumored that Perkins and Ross were at odds during filming (Perkins didn’t think Ross was a professional actress due to her background as a musical artist) they’re fantastic together. I was irritated with film’s ending and Ross’ relationship with Williams in the film, but if you haven’t seen this film, I highly recommend it. I loved it.

Imitation of Life (1959): I can’t rave enough about the works of Douglas Sirk, who has influenced so many major filmmakers with his 1940’s and 1950’s melodramas, from Todd Haynes to Rainer Werner Fassbinder (it’s even said that today’s soap operas owe their existence to the work of Sirk). Sirk’s last Hollywod film was Imitation of Life (1959), a remake of a 1934 film with Claudette Colbert. Sirk’s version stars Lana Turner as an up and coming Broadway star, a widow struggling to raise her small daughter (the teenage version played by Sandra Dee). Turner takes pity on another homeless woman (Juanita Moore in a heartbreaking, Oscar nominate performance) struggling to raise her daughter. Moore is black, but her daughter (in an awesome performance by Susan Kohner, also Oscar nominated) is light enough to pass for white, which leads her to reject her mother and her social status as she grows older. What results is a tearjerker of a film and I loved every minute of it.