list http://www.spout.com/ Recent community activity around I'm Not There on Spout Copyright 2005-9 Spout, LLC Spout RSS http://www.spout.com/images/SpoutLogoRSS.jpg http://www.spout.com/ 136 30 http://www.spout.com/films/I_m_Not_There/269826/default.aspx Title: I'm Not There
Year: 2007
Director: Todd Haynes
Plot: Director Todd Haynes's unconventional biopic of the legendary singer/songwriter Bob Dylan features different actors playing the part of the Minnesota native at various stages of his remarkable career. Among the performers cast as Dylan are Heath Ledger, Richard Gere, Christian Bale, and Cate Blanchett. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
Times Tagged: 31
Number of Lists: 33
Number of blog posts: 30
Number of discussion threads: 11
SpoutRating: 3
]]>Sat, 11 Jul 2009 19:06:43 GMTI'm Not There2007Todd HaynesDirector <a href="/players/P____93836/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Todd Haynes</a>'s unconventional biopic of the legendary singer/songwriter <a href="/players/P____88557/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Bob Dylan</a> features different actors playing the part of the Minnesota native at various stages of his remarkable career. Among the performers cast as Dylan are <a href="/players/P___268296/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Heath Ledger</a>, <a href="/players/P____26545/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Richard Gere</a>, <a href="/players/P_____3538/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Christian Bale</a>, and <a href="/players/P___215038/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Cate Blanchett</a>. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide31Tag Target (>10)3330113http://www.spout.com/ProductImages/s269826.jpghttp://www.spout.com/films/I_m_Not_There/269826/default.aspxFilm http://www.spout.com/blogs/kevynknox/archive/2009/7/10/42997.aspx Post By: KevynKnox
Post To: KevynKnox Blog
Post Date: 7/10/2009 11:50:34 PM
Body: (this review was first published at www.thecinematheque.com on 12/16/07) In the opening salvo of his near-Proustian length critique par excellence in the Village Voice, J. Hoberman called I'm Not There the movie of the year - and he may very well be right. In fact he could ostensibly exchange the word decade for the word year and still be very much within his rights. Easily the most daring experimentation in filmmaking (read: a bite in the ass of cinema) since Lars von Trier's Dogville in 2003. Half casting stunt, half cinematic experimentation, Todd Haynes, the former Brown University semiotics major turned cinematic manipulator extraordinaire, and the man who gave us Far From Heaven, an impressionistic and socially rupturous homage to Douglas Sirk and a scathing indictment of American sexual mores, Velvet Goldmine, a kinky Citizen Kane structured ode to glam rock, [Safe], his diabolic take on the insecurities of humanity and Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story, an absurdist Barbie-dolled super-8 mockery of everything America holds dear (sort of), now hands us his by-far fullest plate yet - a deconstruction not only of the enigmatic Bob Dylan, a man who playing his own game of propagandism, already sliced and diced himself into a multitude of ideas and ideals, but of the very concept of cinema itself. Taking the typically one-man (or one-woman) ultra-polished horse and pony show that is the biopic genre, Haynes flips it on its already much beleaguered head and shows us not one man, but six (or really seven) different aspects of one man, here personified by six different actors, all of different ages, races and even genders. Six actors, but in search of what? With influences ranging from Fellini and Godard to Laurence Sterne and James Joyce, with a bit of Rashomonian Chaucer thrown in and an undercurrent of Marshall McLuhan to boot, Todd Haynes has created not only a film "about" Bob Dylan, but also a film that plays at times as being from Dylan, to Dylan, by Dylan and even on occasion, becoming Dylan. Breathed of the same cubist air in which Dylan created his own self-imitating (and oft-maligned and highly underrated) opus Renaldo & Clara back in 1978, and possibly with many of the same box office blockades (as far as the common moviegoer is concerned - length, unwarranted philosophizing, a dibilitatingly obscure linear structure et al), Haynes' film is a stroke of mad genius mixed with an air of semi-satiric superiority and blended with the mystique of frustrated stardom - all rolled into some sort of postmodern concoction of deconstructive catharsis. First up (and I say that with an air of trepidation since the film is only superficially linear and Haynes cuts back and forth at the slightest provocation and/or whim) is Ben Whishaw as the poet Arthur Rimbaud, the personification of Dylan's poetic aspirations. In the midst of an interrogation being held by an off-stage voice, Whishaw is both mouthpiece for Dylan and his very own Joan of Arc, his face as blaise here as Dreyer's Maria Falconetti's was tormented. He is the voice of dissident, and diffident, reason. Next comes Marcus Carl Franklin as a ten year old train-hopping black runaway in 1959 who goes by the name Woody Guthrie. Rather appropriately played by a black child actor, considering Dylan's youthful exuberance for Guthrie and his being led to the origin of blues music through this exuberance, this is the boy the man would become. Obsessed to the point of believing his own lies, Woody is Dylan as Dylan perhaps dreamt himself as a child. Tremulous at times, yet full of verve and desire. Replete with likely apocryphal tales of being a serial runaway, Dylan's childhood fantasies of becoming his one-time idol - fantasies which have many times over either been surpassed or missed altogether - play as both prelude and omen to what is to come. Where Rimbaud is his mind, Woody is the heart of Bob Dylan. After the child prodigy incarnation of Woody vanishes from the screen (for now), we are given Christian Bale as the finger-pointing, political singing-songwriting-harmonica-playing troubadour Jack Rollins, here accompanied by Julianne Moore doing her best Joan Baez in full VH1 Where Are They Now? mode, giving us the early acoustic-strung world shattering aspirations of a still quite green Dylan. We watch wide-eyed naivety turn to jaded indignance in Bale's superbly bitter (and typically tortured Bale-ian) performance. This is Dylan turning his back on what people "expected" him to be. This is Dylan refusing to be the left-wing lap-dog they wanted. This is Dylan turning toward a different left. The left of the counterculture. The left of his Beat idols like Ginsberg and Kerouac and McClure. This is the soul of Dylan, aching to be alive. This turning away from the "established" folk-centered left and turning toward the beat aesthetic is perfectly played in what is surely the centerpiece of Haynes' cubist masterwork (as well as the film's most sincere shot at Oscar gold) - Cate Blanchett as Jude Quinn, wild-eyed speed-freak electric rock & roll rebel at the apex of his (or her - does it even matter at this point?) circus cannonball blast to stardom. Shot in black and white and layered after both D.A. Pennebaker's 1965 Dylan doc Don't Look Back and Fellini's 1963 masterpiece of misinterpretation and misdirection 8½, this section is rife with allegorical slaps at modern-day mass-hysteroid media and the often stampeding effect it has on celebrity, complete with a queer little helium-voiced "cameo" by four mop-topped lads from Liverpool, playing A Hard Day's Night/Help!-like with a similarly frolicking Jude/Dylan/Blanchett. And if Dylan truly is the hero of our story then Bruce Greenwood as a quite nasty little Brit TV talk show host amalgamation known as Mr. Jones (who incidentally provocates a spectacular rendition of The Ballad of The Thin Man) is the villain. Snidely mocking Dylan's pretentiousness while snarkily being counter-attacked by Dylan/Quinn/Blanchett's sharp-tongued back quips, these Pennebaker-inspired sparring matches are the epitome of Dylan's jadedness toward the media. Meanwhile, amidst this Felliniesque circustry, we get David Cross as a pitch-perfect Allen Ginsberg making his entrance a la golf cart and Michelle Williams as part Edie Sedgewick, part personification of Dylan's fading muse. It was shortly after this time period - the Blonde on Blonde era and what many call the apogee of Dylan's songwriting career - that Dylan crashed his motorcycle and became a backwoods recluse for several years. This segues nicely into Dylan's recluse days (the first version of them that is) and into the "family" life of Dylan personified here by Heath Ledger, doing his best James Dean (yet another Dylan idol). Ledger plays Robbie Clark, half rising half fading star of the silver screen and the incarnation of Dylan as Dylan himself showed in parts of Renaldo & Clara. Failing actor, failing husband and failing father. The "macho" antithesis of Blanchett's foppish Jude, Ledger's Robbie is a man at constant odds with himself and all those around him. Playing Robbie's wife (and stand-in for Sara Dylan, Suze Rotolo and other Dylan loves and muses - as well as Haynes own personal Anna Karina) is French actress Charlotte Gainsbourg, appropriately (and surely uncoincidentally) cast in the role of spotlight mother, herself coming from the womb of a fashion model and the loins of a pop star. This is Dylan as false God. This is Dylan as faker. This is Dylan's lost soul. And what would a lost soul be without someone to find - and save - it. This is exactly what happened to Dylan in the late seventies when he "found" Jesus and this is just what we get from Christian (aptly named?) Bale in redux. Former musical instigator Jack Rollins is now evangelical minister Paster John in what plays as a brief interlude from the rest of the story - which may be just what Dylan's own "rebirth" was. If Ledger's Robbie was his false God, then this could very well be Dylan as false Man. Then comes the final act. The reclusive hermetic Dylan. The fantasy Dylan. The dream Dylan. He comes in the package of a frazzled greying Richard Gere known as Mr. B, or as we later find out, Billy the Kid. Running from the law, running from his music, running from his fans and running from himself perhaps, Gere's Billy the Kid appears in what could very well be a dream world, full of surreal imagery and replete with masked men, women and children. Everyone, even in his dreams, are hiding - and Dylan is no different. With the sudden (re)appearance of Bruce Greenwood, this time behind his own mask as an aging Pat Garrett, Gere's "Kid" goes on the run and finds himself hopping back on the trains of his youth - and in doing so, we are taken right back to the beginning again. Structured in many ways upon Joyce's Finnigan's Wake, it is Billy's temporally implausible discovery of Woody's guitar aboard an empty boxcar that brings Haynes' film river running itself right back to where we started from. And still, while much of the film takes on a Joycean life of its own, and it is, of course, based on the life of (if not the ruminations of) Bob Dylan, not to mention the melange of influences cited earlier, there is yet another must-see influence weighing heavy upon the auteuristic stylings of Mr. Haynes (could it be that Haynes has as many sides as Dylan himself?), and that influence is Jean-Luc Godard. Beginning and ending (as useless as those relative terms are in this case) in much the same gunshot fashion as Godard's Masculine/Feminine - not coincidentally the only one of Godard's seemingly endless oeuvre to openly reference Dylan - Haynes, at his most Godardian (and really, what current filmmaker is any more Godardian than Haynes right now?), lock stocks and barrels his way through the life of Bob Dylan with the stream-of-consciousness rhythms of a deconstructionive mad scientist. Haynes as the all-knowing, all-seeing (all that can be known and/or seen that is) doctor, and the many ideas of who or what or where or when Bob Dylan is, as his somewhat flawed yet genius monster - all the while never kow-towing to what one expects from the genre of biopic. After all, as Haynes recently more than alludes to in an interview in Cineaste, there are lies in all biography, but at least here we are let in on the joke. I have a good friend who is, and I don't think he would be the slightest bit offended by the choice of adjective, obsessed with all things Dylan. Having seen him in concert about 953 times or so and owning just about every recorded piece of music, bootlegs and all, and much of it on vinyl, and referring to Dylan as The P.I. (for those of us in the know, that stands for Prophet Incarnate), and being a true Dylanologist of the highest order, I am sure he would get many more of the referential moments than even I did. Which may very well beg for a precursive crash course in Dylanology for those out there not so inclined toward The P.I., and though the recurring tarantula should be quite obvious to even the novice Dylan acolyte, I'm sure a primer in watching Scorsese's expounding doc No Direction Home (a great film even outside of the predications of I'm Not There) wouldn't hurt anyone. In sum, there are not many people who have been able to successfully metamorphose into so many different creatures (possibly John Lennon or Miles Davis or the aforementioned Godard), but still this film is not just about Dylan. Never uttering the name throughout, this film is as much about Bob Dylan as it is not about Bob Dylan. Taking Proust's idea of a "succession of selves" and running with it - as Dylan has done to himself throughout his career (we are still not sure of many of the facts) - Haynes shows us not just another life (or another movie), but life (or Cinema) itself.
]]>Sat, 11 Jul 2009 03:50:34 GMTKevynKnoxKevynKnox Blog7/10/2009 11:50:34 PM(this review was first published at www.thecinematheque.com on 12/16/07) In the opening salvo of his near-Proustian length critique par excellence in the Village Voice, J. Hoberman called I'm Not There the movie of the year - and he may very well be right. In fact he could ostensibly exchange the word decade for the word year and still be very much within his rights. Easily the most daring experimentation in filmmaking (read: a bite in the ass of cinema) since Lars von Trier's Dogville in 2003. Half casting stunt, half cinematic experimentation, Todd Haynes, the former Brown University semiotics major turned cinematic manipulator extraordinaire, and the man who gave us Far From Heaven, an impressionistic and socially rupturous homage to Douglas Sirk and a scathing indictment of American sexual mores, Velvet Goldmine, a kinky Citizen Kane structured ode to glam rock, [Safe], his diabolic take on the insecurities of humanity and Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story, an absurdist Barbie-dolled super-8 mockery of everything America holds dear (sort of), now hands us his by-far fullest plate yet - a deconstruction not only of the enigmatic Bob Dylan, a man who playing his own game of propagandism, already sliced and diced himself into a multitude of ideas and ideals, but of the very concept of cinema itself. Taking the typically one-man (or one-woman) ultra-polished horse and pony show that is the biopic genre, Haynes flips it on its already much beleaguered head and shows us not one man, but six (or really seven) different aspects of one man, here personified by six different actors, all of different ages, races and even genders. Six actors, but in search of what? With influences ranging from Fellini and Godard to Laurence Sterne and James Joyce, with a bit of Rashomonian Chaucer thrown in and an undercurrent of Marshall McLuhan to boot, Todd Haynes has created not only a film "about" Bob Dylan, but also a film that plays at times as being from Dylan, to Dylan, by Dylan and even on occasion, becoming Dylan. Breathed of the same cubist air in which Dylan created his own self-imitating (and oft-maligned and highly underrated) opus Renaldo &amp; Clara back in 1978, and possibly with many of the same box office blockades (as far as the common moviegoer is concerned - length, unwarranted philosophizing, a dibilitatingly obscure linear structure et al), Haynes' film is a stroke of mad genius mixed with an air of semi-satiric superiority and blended with the mystique of frustrated stardom - all rolled into some sort of postmodern concoction of deconstructive catharsis. First up (and I say that with an air of trepidation since the film is only superficially linear and Haynes cuts back and forth at the slightest provocation and/or whim) is Ben Whishaw as the poet Arthur Rimbaud, the personification of Dylan's poetic aspirations. In the midst of an interrogation being held by an off-stage voice, Whishaw is both mouthpiece for Dylan and his very own Joan of Arc, his face as blaise here as Dreyer's Maria Falconetti's was tormented. He is the voice of dissident, and diffident, reason. Next comes Marcus Carl Franklin as a ten year old train-hopping black runaway in 1959 who goes by the name Woody Guthrie. Rather appropriately played by a black child actor, considering Dylan's youthful exuberance for Guthrie and his being led to the origin of blues music through this exuberance, this is the boy the man would become. Obsessed to the point of believing his own lies, Woody is Dylan as Dylan perhaps dreamt himself as a child. Tremulous at times, yet full of verve and desire. Replete with likely apocryphal tales of being a serial runaway, Dylan's childhood fantasies of becoming his one-time idol - fantasies which have many times over either been surpassed or missed altogether - play as both prelude and omen to what is to come. Where Rimbaud is his mind, Woody is the heart of Bob Dylan. After the child prodigy incarnation of Woody vanishes from the screen (for now), we are given Christian Bale as the finger-pointing, political singing-songwriting-harmonica-playing troubadour Jack Rollins, here accompanied by Julianne Moore doing her best Joan Baez in full VH1 Where Are They Now? mode, giving us the early acoustic-strung world shattering aspirations of a still quite green Dylan. We watch wide-eyed naivety turn to jaded indignance in Bale's superbly bitter (and typically tortured Bale-ian) performance. This is Dylan turning his back on what people "expected" him to be. This is Dylan refusing to be the left-wing lap-dog they wanted. This is Dylan turning toward a different left. The left of the counterculture. The left of his Beat idols like Ginsberg and Kerouac and McClure. This is the soul of Dylan, aching to be alive. This turning away from the "established" folk-centered left and turning toward the beat aesthetic is perfectly played in what is surely the centerpiece of Haynes' cubist masterwork (as well as the film's most sincere shot at Oscar gold) - Cate Blanchett as Jude Quinn, wild-eyed speed-freak electric rock &amp; roll rebel at the apex of his (or her - does it even matter at this point?) circus cannonball blast to stardom. Shot in black and white and layered after both D.A. Pennebaker's 1965 Dylan doc Don't Look Back and Fellini's 1963 masterpiece of misinterpretation and misdirection 8&frac12;, this section is rife with allegorical slaps at modern-day mass-hysteroid media and the often stampeding effect it has on celebrity, complete with a queer little helium-voiced "cameo" by four mop-topped lads from Liverpool, playing A Hard Day's Night/Help!-like with a similarly frolicking Jude/Dylan/Blanchett. And if Dylan truly is the hero of our story then Bruce Greenwood as a quite nasty little Brit TV talk show host amalgamation known as Mr. Jones (who incidentally provocates a spectacular rendition of The Ballad of The Thin Man) is the villain. Snidely mocking Dylan's pretentiousness while snarkily being counter-attacked by Dylan/Quinn/Blanchett's sharp-tongued back quips, these Pennebaker-inspired sparring matches are the epitome of Dylan's jadedness toward the media. Meanwhile, amidst this Felliniesque circustry, we get David Cross as a pitch-perfect Allen Ginsberg making his entrance a la golf cart and Michelle Williams as part Edie Sedgewick, part personification of Dylan's fading muse. It was shortly after this time period - the Blonde on Blonde era and what many call the apogee of Dylan's songwriting career - that Dylan crashed his motorcycle and became a backwoods recluse for several years. This segues nicely into Dylan's recluse days (the first version of them that is) and into the "family" life of Dylan personified here by Heath Ledger, doing his best James Dean (yet another Dylan idol). Ledger plays Robbie Clark, half rising half fading star of the silver screen and the incarnation of Dylan as Dylan himself showed in parts of Renaldo &amp; Clara. Failing actor, failing husband and failing father. The "macho" antithesis of Blanchett's foppish Jude, Ledger's Robbie is a man at constant odds with himself and all those around him. Playing Robbie's wife (and stand-in for Sara Dylan, Suze Rotolo and other Dylan loves and muses - as well as Haynes own personal Anna Karina) is French actress Charlotte Gainsbourg, appropriately (and surely uncoincidentally) cast in the role of spotlight mother, herself coming from the womb of a fashion model and the loins of a pop star. This is Dylan as false God. This is Dylan as faker. This is Dylan's lost soul. And what would a lost soul be without someone to find - and save - it. This is exactly what happened to Dylan in the late seventies when he "found" Jesus and this is just what we get from Christian (aptly named?) Bale in redux. Former musical instigator Jack Rollins is now evangelical minister Paster John in what plays as a brief interlude from the rest of the story - which may be just what Dylan's own "rebirth" was. If Ledger's Robbie was his false God, then this could very well be Dylan as false Man. Then comes the final act. The reclusive hermetic Dylan. The fantasy Dylan. The dream Dylan. He comes in the package of a frazzled greying Richard Gere known as Mr. B, or as we later find out, Billy the Kid. Running from the law, running from his music, running from his fans and running from himself perhaps, Gere's Billy the Kid appears in what could very well be a dream world, full of surreal imagery and replete with masked men, women and children. Everyone, even in his dreams, are hiding - and Dylan is no different. With the sudden (re)appearance of Bruce Greenwood, this time behind his own mask as an aging Pat Garrett, Gere's "Kid" goes on the run and finds himself hopping back on the trains of his youth - and in doing so, we are taken right back to the beginning again. Structured in many ways upon Joyce's Finnigan's Wake, it is Billy's temporally implausible discovery of Woody's guitar aboard an empty boxcar that brings Haynes' film river running itself right back to where we started from. And still, while much of the film takes on a Joycean life of its own, and it is, of course, based on the life of (if not the ruminations of) Bob Dylan, not to mention the melange of influences cited earlier, there is yet another must-see influence weighing heavy upon the auteuristic stylings of Mr. Haynes (could it be that Haynes has as many sides as Dylan himself?), and that influence is Jean-Luc Godard. Beginning and ending (as useless as those relative terms are in this case) in much the same gunshot fashion as Godard's Masculine/Feminine - not coincidentally the only one of Godard's seemingly endless oeuvre to openly reference Dylan - Haynes, at his most Godardian (and really, what current filmmaker is any more Godardian than Haynes right now?), lock stocks and barrels his way through the life of Bob Dylan with the stream-of-consciousness rhythms of a deconstructionive mad scientist. Haynes as the all-knowing, all-seeing (all that can be known and/or seen that is) doctor, and the many ideas of who or what or where or when Bob Dylan is, as his somewhat flawed yet genius monster - all the while never kow-towing to what one expects from the genre of biopic. After all, as Haynes recently more than alludes to in an interview in Cineaste, there are lies in all biography, but at least here we are let in on the joke. I have a good friend who is, and I don't think he would be the slightest bit offended by the choice of adjective, obsessed with all things Dylan. Having seen him in concert about 953 times or so and owning just about every recorded piece of music, bootlegs and all, and much of it on vinyl, and referring to Dylan as The P.I. (for those of us in the know, that stands for Prophet Incarnate), and being a true Dylanologist of the highest order, I am sure he would get many more of the referential moments than even I did. Which may very well beg for a precursive crash course in Dylanology for those out there not so inclined toward The P.I., and though the recurring tarantula should be quite obvious to even the novice Dylan acolyte, I'm sure a primer in watching Scorsese's expounding doc No Direction Home (a great film even outside of the predications of I'm Not There) wouldn't hurt anyone. In sum, there are not many people who have been able to successfully metamorphose into so many different creatures (possibly John Lennon or Miles Davis or the aforementioned Godard), but still this film is not just about Dylan. Never uttering the name throughout, this film is as much about Bob Dylan as it is not about Bob Dylan. Taking Proust's idea of a "succession of selves" and running with it - as Dylan has done to himself throughout his career (we are still not sure of many of the facts) - Haynes shows us not just another life (or another movie), but life (or Cinema) itself. http://www.spout.com/groups/Coming_Soon/Holiday_movies_Cartoon_mice_Jim_Carrey_s_face_a/216/38422/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: spout
Post To: Coming Soon
Post Date: 12/15/2008 7:02:54 PM
Body: WEDNESDAY 12/17 The Wrestler -- Watch the trailer. Read the review. Looks like this is a sports movie with guts. I love Mickey Rourke, and I can't think of anyone who knows more about being called a "beat-up piece of meat." Hey, that makes me think of a list... Art Imitates Life: When Actors Barely Have to Act 5. Reservoir Dogs -- Mr. Blue is played by ex-convict and heist veteran Edward Bunker. 4. Pirates of the Caribbean 3 -- Keith Richards, the pirate of rock, is the perfect choice to play Jack Sparrow's dad. 3. A Scanner Darkly -- Tie for third place: Robert Downey, Jr. and Woody Harrelson, who lend this "drug movie" loads of authenticity. 2. The Wrestler -- I wanted to put it at #1, but I haven't seen it yet. 1. Unforgiven -- Clint's portrayal of a reformed murderer gives me goosebumps. When characters talk about how bad he used to be, I think of the Dollars trilogy, and how different they could've been if he was an outright villain. Another Documentary About an Eccentric Artist, but this one looks worthwhile. Scott Walker: 30 Century Man -- Watch the trailer. I'm a music nut, but I hadn't heard of Scott Walker until today. Considering the musicians he's influenced (David Bowie, Brian Eno, The Smiths, Radiohead), I don't know how he's escaped my attention. He looks intense. "I have a very nightmarish imagination. I've had very bad dreams all my life, so everything in my music is very big." -- S. Walker in Scott Walker: 30 Century Man. FRIDAY 12/19 Nothing But the Truth -- Read the review. Inspired by the Valerie Plame/Scooter Libby CIA leak, Karina said this was the most fun she had at the Toronto Film Festival 2008. Starring Vera Farmiga and featuring Matt Dillon, Alan Alda, Kate Beckinsale, and...(are you ready for this?) David Schwimmer. The Tale of Despereaux -- Watch the trailer. This looks good, but it's getting chilly reviews. I don't know, the mouse is pretty cute... Yes Man -- Watch the trailer. Looks a lot like Liar Liar, but it could be fun. I do have to say though, these days I have a pretty low tolerance for Jim Carrey's facial shenanigans. Seven Pounds -- Watch the trailer. Will Smith is an IRS agent who mysteriously assumes the identity of his younger brother and tries to change the lives of seven strangers. Also starring Rosario Dawson and Woody Harrelson, and from the director of Pursuit of Happyness.
]]>Tue, 16 Dec 2008 00:02:54 GMTspoutComing Soon12/15/2008 7:02:54 PMWEDNESDAY 12/17 The Wrestler -- Watch the trailer. Read the review. Looks like this is a sports movie with guts. I love Mickey Rourke, and I can't think of anyone who knows more about being called a "beat-up piece of meat." Hey, that makes me think of a list... Art Imitates Life: When Actors Barely Have to Act 5. Reservoir Dogs -- Mr. Blue is played by ex-convict and heist veteran Edward Bunker. 4. Pirates of the Caribbean 3 -- Keith Richards, the pirate of rock, is the perfect choice to play Jack Sparrow's dad. 3. A Scanner Darkly -- Tie for third place: Robert Downey, Jr. and Woody Harrelson, who lend this "drug movie" loads of authenticity. 2. The Wrestler -- I wanted to put it at #1, but I haven't seen it yet. 1. Unforgiven -- Clint's portrayal of a reformed murderer gives me goosebumps. When characters talk about how bad he used to be, I think of the Dollars trilogy, and how different they could've been if he was an outright villain. Another Documentary About an Eccentric Artist, but this one looks worthwhile. Scott Walker: 30 Century Man -- Watch the trailer. I'm a music nut, but I hadn't heard of Scott Walker until today. Considering the musicians he's influenced (David Bowie, Brian Eno, The Smiths, Radiohead), I don't know how he's escaped my attention. He looks intense. "I have a very nightmarish imagination. I've had very bad dreams all my life, so everything in my music is very big." -- S. Walker in Scott Walker: 30 Century Man. FRIDAY 12/19 Nothing But the Truth -- Read the review. Inspired by the Valerie Plame/Scooter Libby CIA leak, Karina said this was the most fun she had at the Toronto Film Festival 2008. Starring Vera Farmiga and featuring Matt Dillon, Alan Alda, Kate Beckinsale, and...(are you ready for this?) David Schwimmer. The Tale of Despereaux -- Watch the trailer. This looks good, but it's getting chilly reviews. I don't know, the mouse is pretty cute... Yes Man -- Watch the trailer. Looks a lot like Liar Liar, but it could be fun. I do have to say though, these days I have a pretty low tolerance for Jim Carrey's facial shenanigans. Seven Pounds -- Watch the trailer. Will Smith is an IRS agent who mysteriously assumes the identity of his younger brother and tries to change the lives of seven strangers. Also starring Rosario Dawson and Woody Harrelson, and from the director of Pursuit of Happyness. http://www.spout.com/groups/Coming_Soon/Time_Travel_Aliens_and_Biopics_New_movies_12/216/38083/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: SkyPilot
Post To: Coming Soon
Post Date: 12/8/2008 4:30:05 PM
Body: TIME TRAVEL: A BASIC HUMAN RIGHT Bad Guys Will Always Have Time Travel, so Good Guys Should Have It Too -- 5 Movies That Prove This Argument 1. Timecrimes (NEW) -- Watch the trailer. Read the review, listen to the interview. 2. Time Bandits (1981) -- Watch the trailer. My good friend Kevin (porcupine) loves this flick. That's good, because his parents named him after one of the characters. Would it be less cool if he were named after Kevin McAlister from Home Alone? Something to ponder. 3. Time Cop (1994) -- Watch the trailer. I remember this Jean-Claude Van Damme vehicle was pretty violent and included some gratuitous nudity; I was only 13 when I saw it in '95, and that's all I remember. Are there fans who've seen it more recently? 4. Back to the Future Part II (1989) -- Watch the trailer. Remember how future Biff went back in time to give the gambling results book to 50's Biff, then 50's Biff became rich by never losing a bet at the horseraces? Who besides me wished they could do that? 5. And of course, there's the mo-fo'ing Terminator series. Man, I can't wait for Terminator: Salvation. Read the notes from the Comic-Con press conference. WHOA: KEANU REEVES, ROCKIN' IT 3. The Day the Earth Stood Still (NEW) -- Read about the press conference with Keanu and Jennifer Connelly. I won't lie, I'm excited for this one! Not only am I nuts about Jennifer Connelly, I also think Keanu could be fantastic at playing a non-human. (Just like how Swarzenegger was always best at playing a robot.) Recast the original, you might win a t-shirt. 2. A Scanner Darkly (2006) -- Really good movie from Richard Linklater. It's rotoscoped like Waking Life, but it has a story! It's funny and sad and paranoid (it's about narcs and drug addiction). The trio of Keanu, Woody Harrelson and Robert Downey Jr. make it a buddy tragi-comedy. 1. Point Break (1991) -- Watch the trailer. Time to watch it again. When Hot Fuzz came out, I'm so glad they paid homage to this lovable turkey. CHE & OUR FAVORITE BIOPICS Che (NEW) -- Read Karina's review and the Steven Soderberg press conference. This is not one of Karina's favorite biopics. Find out why Karina's review pissed off older bloggers. What are your favorite biopics? I asked some friends at Spout about their favorites, and one said, "Does Braveheart count?" Here are some others they listed: 6. Gandhi -- Watch the trailer. I dig that Ben Kingsley. I haven't seen this though, what do you guys think of it? 5. Into the Wild -- Watch the trailer. Haven't seen this one either. 4. Evita -- The musical with Madonna. I don't know if I could handle it. 3. A Beautiful Mind -- Watch the trailer. Haven't seen it. 2. I'm Not There -- Watch the trailer. Careful with this one, because if you don't know a lot about Bob Dylan's life, the film will just be confusing and frustrating. If you do know your Dylan, this is beautiful and a real heart-breaker. 1. Amadeus -- Watch the trailer. This one I need to watch again. I remember it as an interesting movie for anyone who feels like a Salieri when they meet a Mozart. GOOD MOVIES THAT COME FROM PLAYS 3. Doubt (NEW) -- Watch the trailer. Great cast, with Philip Seymour Hoffman, Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. 2. My favorite Shakespeare movies: for the comedies, Love's Labour's Lost and The Merchant of Venice. For the tragedies, I really like Titus and Roman Polanski's Macbeth. How about you guys? 1. Rope (1948) -- Jimmy Stewart is great in this thriller from Alfred Hitchcock. It all takes place in one apartment. WEIRD-ASS LOOKIN' ANIMATED MOVIE Delgo (NEW) -- Watch the weird-ass trailer. OTHER NEW MOVIES You know something juicy about these? Hit us with it!What Doesn't Kill You -- ..."makes you ugly." That's the saying, right? Stars Ethan Hawke and Mark Ruffalo, who play old friends trying to dodge gangs and a detective (Mark Wahlberg) in South Boston.Nothing Like the Holidays -- Watch the trailer. Alfred Molina! Where God Left His Shoes -- Stars John Leguizamo, who's trying to find an apartment for his family on Christmas Eve, after they've lived in a homeless shelter for a few months. Dark Streets -- Watch the trailer. I love that guy Elias Koteas. While She Was Out -- Kim Basinger's a housewife fighting for her life out in the woods (looks like some young men are trying to get her).$9.99 -- Stop-motion animation, starring Geoffrey Rush.
]]>Mon, 08 Dec 2008 21:30:05 GMTSkyPilotComing Soon12/8/2008 4:30:05 PMTIME TRAVEL: A BASIC HUMAN RIGHT Bad Guys Will Always Have Time Travel, so Good Guys Should Have It Too -- 5 Movies That Prove This Argument 1. Timecrimes (NEW) -- Watch the trailer. Read the review, listen to the interview. 2. Time Bandits (1981) -- Watch the trailer. My good friend Kevin (porcupine) loves this flick. That's good, because his parents named him after one of the characters. Would it be less cool if he were named after Kevin McAlister from Home Alone? Something to ponder. 3. Time Cop (1994) -- Watch the trailer. I remember this Jean-Claude Van Damme vehicle was pretty violent and included some gratuitous nudity; I was only 13 when I saw it in '95, and that's all I remember. Are there fans who've seen it more recently? 4. Back to the Future Part II (1989) -- Watch the trailer. Remember how future Biff went back in time to give the gambling results book to 50's Biff, then 50's Biff became rich by never losing a bet at the horseraces? Who besides me wished they could do that? 5. And of course, there's the mo-fo'ing Terminator series. Man, I can't wait for Terminator: Salvation. Read the notes from the Comic-Con press conference. WHOA: KEANU REEVES, ROCKIN' IT 3. The Day the Earth Stood Still (NEW) -- Read about the press conference with Keanu and Jennifer Connelly. I won't lie, I'm excited for this one! Not only am I nuts about Jennifer Connelly, I also think Keanu could be fantastic at playing a non-human. (Just like how Swarzenegger was always best at playing a robot.) Recast the original, you might win a t-shirt. 2. A Scanner Darkly (2006) -- Really good movie from Richard Linklater. It's rotoscoped like Waking Life, but it has a story! It's funny and sad and paranoid (it's about narcs and drug addiction). The trio of Keanu, Woody Harrelson and Robert Downey Jr. make it a buddy tragi-comedy. 1. Point Break (1991) -- Watch the trailer. Time to watch it again. When Hot Fuzz came out, I'm so glad they paid homage to this lovable turkey. CHE &amp; OUR FAVORITE BIOPICS Che (NEW) -- Read Karina's review and the Steven Soderberg press conference. This is not one of Karina's favorite biopics. Find out why Karina's review pissed off older bloggers. What are your favorite biopics? I asked some friends at Spout about their favorites, and one said, "Does Braveheart count?" Here are some others they listed: 6. Gandhi -- Watch the trailer. I dig that Ben Kingsley. I haven't seen this though, what do you guys think of it? 5. Into the Wild -- Watch the trailer. Haven't seen this one either. 4. Evita -- The musical with Madonna. I don't know if I could handle it. 3. A Beautiful Mind -- Watch the trailer. Haven't seen it. 2. I'm Not There -- Watch the trailer. Careful with this one, because if you don't know a lot about Bob Dylan's life, the film will just be confusing and frustrating. If you do know your Dylan, this is beautiful and a real heart-breaker. 1. Amadeus -- Watch the trailer. This one I need to watch again. I remember it as an interesting movie for anyone who feels like a Salieri when they meet a Mozart. GOOD MOVIES THAT COME FROM PLAYS 3. Doubt (NEW) -- Watch the trailer. Great cast, with Philip Seymour Hoffman, Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. 2. My favorite Shakespeare movies: for the comedies, Love's Labour's Lost and The Merchant of Venice. For the tragedies, I really like Titus and Roman Polanski's Macbeth. How about you guys? 1. Rope (1948) -- Jimmy Stewart is great in this thriller from Alfred Hitchcock. It all takes place in one apartment. WEIRD-ASS LOOKIN' ANIMATED MOVIE Delgo (NEW) -- Watch the weird-ass trailer. OTHER NEW MOVIES You know something juicy about these? Hit us with it!What Doesn't Kill You -- ..."makes you ugly." That's the saying, right? Stars Ethan Hawke and Mark Ruffalo, who play old friends trying to dodge gangs and a detective (Mark Wahlberg) in South Boston.Nothing Like the Holidays -- Watch the trailer. Alfred Molina! Where God Left His Shoes -- Stars John Leguizamo, who's trying to find an apartment for his family on Christmas Eve, after they've lived in a homeless shelter for a few months. Dark Streets -- Watch the trailer. I love that guy Elias Koteas. While She Was Out -- Kim Basinger's a housewife fighting for her life out in the woods (looks like some young men are trying to get her).$9.99 -- Stop-motion animation, starring Geoffrey Rush. http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/12/4/37942.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 12/4/2008 2:01:09 PM
Body: Who would you rather hear sing Etta James’ signature tunes, the real deal or Beyonce Knowles? If you prefer the latter, then you’ll want to see Cadillac Records and even buy the film’s soundtrack, both of which feature Beyonce performing a few of James’ songs, including a nearly spot-on copy of “At Last” (listen to it here). Other actors in the film (and on the soundtrack) who do their own singing while portraying legendary music artists include Jeffrey Wright (as Muddy Waters), Mos Def (Chuck Berry) and Columbus Short (Little Walter). It’s a strange idea to pay tribute to a singer with a biopic or ensemble music historical and then replace that singer’s voice with another, more amateur vocalist. Yet Hollywood does it all the time and, surprisingly, the new performances usually turn out pretty good. Just listen to the following nine actors and actresses who managed to do justice to the artist they were portraying. Gary Busey as Buddy Holly in The Buddy Holly Story (1978) Busey earned an Oscar nomination for this film, and part of the honor was likely meant for his uncanny ability to ape Holly’s singing style precisely for live sequences like the one above. The real Buddy can be heard all over the soundtrack where appropriate, but it makes sense to have raw, live-sounding numbers in actual live performance scenes, so that’s really Busey, Charles Martin Smith and Don Stroud singing and playing the music on set. It’s unfortunate that in the subsequent thirty years there have been only a few films to follow this one’s lead, but it just proves how amazing Busey’s performance truly is. Beverly D’Angelo as Patsy Cline in Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980) The real star, in terms of both acting and singing, was Sissy Spacek, but D’Angelo does an amazing job, too, as Loretta Lynn’s mentor, Patsy Cline. Compared to Spacek’s nine tracks on the film’s soundtrack, D’Angelo has four, including an excellent duet with Spacek on “Back in Baby’s Arms.” Some of them only appear in the film as playing on the radio and so didn’t even need to be performed by the actress. But they’re so perfect, it’s almost like Michael Apted put them in there just to see if anyone noticed a difference. No wonder that when Jessica Lange starred as Cline in the 1985 bio Sweet Dreams she simply lip-synched to the original tunes. How could she have done any better than this? Laurence Fishburne as Ike Turner in What’s Love Got to Do With It (1993) While Angela Bassett lip-synched to the real Tina Turner’s voice, Fishburne made for an inconsistent soundtrack by supplying his own vocals in the part of Ike. Actually, it was necessary, because nearly all the songs in the film are new recordings, and there’s no way anyone was going to even think of bringing the real Ike in for that. Besides, some might see it as justice that his voice was almost entirely left out of the film. Fishburne received an Oscar nomination for the performance. Val Kilmer as Jim Morrison in The Doors (1991) If John Travolta had gotten his way, he’d have starred as Morrison in the film and even toured with The Doors in a series of promotional concerts. If Oliver Stone had gotten his first choice, the part would be played by The Cult’s Ian Astbury, who actually did end up singing for The Doors (well, really, the “The Doors of the 21st Century”) a decade later. And if Kyle MacLachlan had gotten his way, he’d have played Morrison instead of portraying Ray Manzarek in the film. But none of these people could possibly have done better than Val Kilmer, who completely owned the character (if not the true Jim, as Stone’s critics argue). In addition to bearing a slight resemblance to Morrison, the actor also sang enough like the real deal to have allegedly confused Stone and the surviving members of The Doors. So, the songs in the film are the band’s original recordings with Kilmer’s vocals substituted for Morrison’s, a process that allowed for a more accurate representation of the rock legend’s talky and unpredictable stage act. The soundtrack album claims to feature Morrison’s own voice on the songs, but Kilmer’s performance is so good that the credits could be false and we’d never know. Kevin Kline as Cole Porter in De-Lovely (2004) This is an especially exceptional performance because Kline limits his true singing ability to sound more like Porter, whose voice wasn’t too remarkable (the man was a composer, not a performer). The idea may not have made for Kline’s greatest recordings — though the soundtrack sold relatively well thanks to other talents like Elvis Costello and Sheryl Crow — but the portrayal would not have been true enough had Kline belted out his best. In addition to doing his own handicapped singing, in character and on set, the actor also played the piano live during filming. Ewan McGregor as Curt Wild (aka Iggy Pop) in Velvet Goldmine (1998) Ten years before casting six separate actors as Bob Dylan for I’m Not There, Todd Haynes had a single actor portray an amalgam of Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Mick Ronson and Alice Cooper (with a little Kurt Cobain thrown in for name and appearance?). But Curt Wild is primarily Iggy, and his band, The Wylde Ratttz, are obviously modeled mostly on The Stooges, so McGregor’s crude performance counts for this list. After all, it’s basically only Stooges tunes he sings in the film (with a new tune written by ex-Stooge Ron Asheton and Mudhoney’s Mark Arm), whereas Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, who sings only some of his own songs (Radiohead’s Thom Yorke sings some others) in an obvious portrayal of David Bowie, renamed Brian Slade, performs a mix of Roxy Music and other artists’ tunes (though no Bowie, who wouldn’t allow his songs to be licensed for the film). Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash in Walk the Line (2005) Roger Ebert claimed to have closed his eyes during the film and sincerely believed it to be Cash’s own vocals being lip-synched by Phoenix. While the actor does a great job, though, it’s hard to think he’d allow the same kind of confusion Kilmer’s Morrison brought about. Amazing similarity, sure, but listen to Phoenix and Cash side by side and there’s definitely no mistaking them for the same. However, Phoenix does do a grand job of convincing us that he’s completely Cash, in appearance and voice, while the movie is playing. His costar, Reese Witherspoon, may have won the Oscar, but Phoenix definitely gave the better, more accurate singing performance. Sam Riley as Ian Curtis in Control (2007) Like the live performances in The Buddy Holly Story, those in Control were filmed live on set with the actors all playing their own instruments and Sam Riley doing his own singing. And like the earlier film, it was totally appropriate to capture such a raw-sounding band and vocalist. There were original Joy Division tunes used for non-live scenes and most of the soundtrack album features original recordings, with only one track credited to the cast, who were credited as “Joy Moviesion.” Diana Ross as Billie Holiday in Lady Sings the Blues (1972) If you’re a big fan of Holiday’s voice, there’s really no accepting this substitution. Unlike some of the other artists’ voices recreated for the big screen, Holiday’s isn’t backed up by a lot of music. So, hers and Ross’ voices are barer. Yet Ross nevertheless does a worthy effort in the role and her performances of Holiday’s tunes were popular enough to make the film’s soundtrack reach #1 on the Billboard Top 200. Ross was also nominated for an Oscar. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Thu, 04 Dec 2008 19:01:09 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com12/4/2008 2:01:09 PMWho would you rather hear sing Etta James’ signature tunes, the real deal or Beyonce Knowles? If you prefer the latter, then you’ll want to see Cadillac Records and even buy the film’s soundtrack, both of which feature Beyonce performing a few of James’ songs, including a nearly spot-on copy of “At Last” (listen to it here). Other actors in the film (and on the soundtrack) who do their own singing while portraying legendary music artists include Jeffrey Wright (as Muddy Waters), Mos Def (Chuck Berry) and Columbus Short (Little Walter). It’s a strange idea to pay tribute to a singer with a biopic or ensemble music historical and then replace that singer’s voice with another, more amateur vocalist. Yet Hollywood does it all the time and, surprisingly, the new performances usually turn out pretty good. Just listen to the following nine actors and actresses who managed to do justice to the artist they were portraying. Gary Busey as Buddy Holly in The Buddy Holly Story (1978) Busey earned an Oscar nomination for this film, and part of the honor was likely meant for his uncanny ability to ape Holly’s singing style precisely for live sequences like the one above. The real Buddy can be heard all over the soundtrack where appropriate, but it makes sense to have raw, live-sounding numbers in actual live performance scenes, so that’s really Busey, Charles Martin Smith and Don Stroud singing and playing the music on set. It’s unfortunate that in the subsequent thirty years there have been only a few films to follow this one’s lead, but it just proves how amazing Busey’s performance truly is. Beverly D’Angelo as Patsy Cline in Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980) The real star, in terms of both acting and singing, was Sissy Spacek, but D’Angelo does an amazing job, too, as Loretta Lynn’s mentor, Patsy Cline. Compared to Spacek’s nine tracks on the film’s soundtrack, D’Angelo has four, including an excellent duet with Spacek on “Back in Baby’s Arms.” Some of them only appear in the film as playing on the radio and so didn’t even need to be performed by the actress. But they’re so perfect, it’s almost like Michael Apted put them in there just to see if anyone noticed a difference. No wonder that when Jessica Lange starred as Cline in the 1985 bio Sweet Dreams she simply lip-synched to the original tunes. How could she have done any better than this? Laurence Fishburne as Ike Turner in What’s Love Got to Do With It (1993) While Angela Bassett lip-synched to the real Tina Turner’s voice, Fishburne made for an inconsistent soundtrack by supplying his own vocals in the part of Ike. Actually, it was necessary, because nearly all the songs in the film are new recordings, and there’s no way anyone was going to even think of bringing the real Ike in for that. Besides, some might see it as justice that his voice was almost entirely left out of the film. Fishburne received an Oscar nomination for the performance. Val Kilmer as Jim Morrison in The Doors (1991) If John Travolta had gotten his way, he’d have starred as Morrison in the film and even toured with The Doors in a series of promotional concerts. If Oliver Stone had gotten his first choice, the part would be played by The Cult’s Ian Astbury, who actually did end up singing for The Doors (well, really, the “The Doors of the 21st Century”) a decade later. And if Kyle MacLachlan had gotten his way, he’d have played Morrison instead of portraying Ray Manzarek in the film. But none of these people could possibly have done better than Val Kilmer, who completely owned the character (if not the true Jim, as Stone’s critics argue). In addition to bearing a slight resemblance to Morrison, the actor also sang enough like the real deal to have allegedly confused Stone and the surviving members of The Doors. So, the songs in the film are the band’s original recordings with Kilmer’s vocals substituted for Morrison’s, a process that allowed for a more accurate representation of the rock legend’s talky and unpredictable stage act. The soundtrack album claims to feature Morrison’s own voice on the songs, but Kilmer’s performance is so good that the credits could be false and we’d never know. Kevin Kline as Cole Porter in De-Lovely (2004) This is an especially exceptional performance because Kline limits his true singing ability to sound more like Porter, whose voice wasn’t too remarkable (the man was a composer, not a performer). The idea may not have made for Kline’s greatest recordings — though the soundtrack sold relatively well thanks to other talents like Elvis Costello and Sheryl Crow — but the portrayal would not have been true enough had Kline belted out his best. In addition to doing his own handicapped singing, in character and on set, the actor also played the piano live during filming. Ewan McGregor as Curt Wild (aka Iggy Pop) in Velvet Goldmine (1998) Ten years before casting six separate actors as Bob Dylan for I’m Not There, Todd Haynes had a single actor portray an amalgam of Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Mick Ronson and Alice Cooper (with a little Kurt Cobain thrown in for name and appearance?). But Curt Wild is primarily Iggy, and his band, The Wylde Ratttz, are obviously modeled mostly on The Stooges, so McGregor’s crude performance counts for this list. After all, it’s basically only Stooges tunes he sings in the film (with a new tune written by ex-Stooge Ron Asheton and Mudhoney’s Mark Arm), whereas Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, who sings only some of his own songs (Radiohead’s Thom Yorke sings some others) in an obvious portrayal of David Bowie, renamed Brian Slade, performs a mix of Roxy Music and other artists’ tunes (though no Bowie, who wouldn’t allow his songs to be licensed for the film). Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash in Walk the Line (2005) Roger Ebert claimed to have closed his eyes during the film and sincerely believed it to be Cash’s own vocals being lip-synched by Phoenix. While the actor does a great job, though, it’s hard to think he’d allow the same kind of confusion Kilmer’s Morrison brought about. Amazing similarity, sure, but listen to Phoenix and Cash side by side and there’s definitely no mistaking them for the same. However, Phoenix does do a grand job of convincing us that he’s completely Cash, in appearance and voice, while the movie is playing. His costar, Reese Witherspoon, may have won the Oscar, but Phoenix definitely gave the better, more accurate singing performance. Sam Riley as Ian Curtis in Control (2007) Like the live performances in The Buddy Holly Story, those in Control were filmed live on set with the actors all playing their own instruments and Sam Riley doing his own singing. And like the earlier film, it was totally appropriate to capture such a raw-sounding band and vocalist. There were original Joy Division tunes used for non-live scenes and most of the soundtrack album features original recordings, with only one track credited to the cast, who were credited as “Joy Moviesion.” Diana Ross as Billie Holiday in Lady Sings the Blues (1972) If you’re a big fan of Holiday’s voice, there’s really no accepting this substitution. Unlike some of the other artists’ voices recreated for the big screen, Holiday’s isn’t backed up by a lot of music. So, hers and Ross’ voices are barer. Yet Ross nevertheless does a worthy effort in the role and her performances of Holiday’s tunes were popular enough to make the film’s soundtrack reach #1 on the Billboard Top 200. Ross was also nominated for an Oscar. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/11/10/37156.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 11/10/2008 4:01:13 PM
Body: It happened last year for Cate Blanchett. The actress starred in a biopic that critics ripped to shreds, a film that basically bombed at the (American) box office, and yet she managed to score a Best Actress nomination for her reprised performance as the titular monarch of Elizabeth: The Golden Age. Additionally, Blanchett earned another nomination for Best Supporting Actress the same year, for her portrayal of Bob Dylan in I’m Not There. Now Josh Brolin could achieve a similar feat this year, not just by earning separate nominations for playing the titular president of W. and portraying politician-turned-assassin Dan White in Milk, but also by overcoming the difficulty of earning recognition in a lead category for a film that otherwise is not very well regarded. Are Brolin’s hurdles higher than Blanchett’s, though? With all the praise he’s received for W., he’s still far from being considered a sure thing candidate, regardless of his worthiness or the Academy’s history of oftentimes ignoring the critics and the grosses when nominating dependable, standout actors. And boy, does Brolin stand out. Despite giving a strong, surprisingly grounded performance in W., the actor is almost in a world of his own in the film. The supporting players mostly miss their marks, whether through overshot caricature (Thandie Newton’s stroke-faced, alien-voiced Condoleeza Rice) or an apparent lack of effort (Scott Glenn looks bored and unrecognizable as Rumsfeld, while Toby Jones for some reason offers a Karl Rove who’s more huggable than slimy). Both problems may have been due to an unclear decision on the film’s intended tone, but regardless, the script is way too simpleminded, as if adapted from the sitting president’s Wikipedia page. Brolin is the only person who keeps the film interesting and engrossing by making the character his own rather than going for total impersonation. Some of his movements and inflections consist of outright aping, but his personalization allows for unpredictability in much of his execution. Certainly it’s a performance as good as Joaquin Phoenix’s in Walk the Line and Jamie Foxx’s in Ray. Perhaps if W. were about a musician-turned-president, with Brolin offering his own singing voice, his nomination would be more assured? So far it seems he’s hardly being considered. Sites ranking the actor’s chances in chart form include And the Winner Is…, which places him tenth in the running, Entertainment Weekly, which puts him alphabetically somewhere between ninth and thirteenth while calling him a long shot, Movie City News, which lists him seventh with a comment that he deserves the nom “111%”, and In Contention, which also puts him at seventh place. Hollywood Elsewhere’s Jeff Wells merely includes him as one of eight contenders for the lead actor category, which is at least more of an approval than the others. So what are those hurdles that are keeping him out of the fortunate five? As of this past weekend, W. is down to 17th place in its fourth weekend at the box office, and it hasn’t yet even passed the $25 million mark domestically. Not that a film needs to be a hit with moviegoers to make a difference with the Academy, though, right? This time last year, Elizabeth: The Golden Age was similarly fading from the interests of ticket buyers in its fifth week, having made a meager $16 million. And of the ten Best Actor nominees of the last two years, half came from films that grossed less than W. Then there are the film’s poor reviews, which have earned W. a Metacritic score of 56. Compared to Elizabeth: The Golden Age’s score of 45, that’s not actually too much of a drawback. And if the Academy can nominate Sean Penn for I Am Sam in spite of that movie’s reception (Metacritic score of 28!), it shouldn’t have any problem with a performance from a picture that at least somewhat pleased more than 50% of critics. Of course, Penn was and is an Oscar vet. So was Blanchett, who had already been nominated for the same role in the first Elizabeth. It wouldn’t be surprising if some Academy members voted for her Elizabeth: The Golden Age performance without even having seen the movie. Meanwhile, Brolin’s greatest film honor as of yet is being one-seventh of the SAG Award-winning ensemble cast of No Country for Old Men. Last year he may have deserved a double nomination for his lead performance in that film and his supporting bit in American Gangster, but he failed to garner the Academy’s notice. Though some people see Brolin garnering two nominations this year as a way of making up for his prior snubs, the actor’s lack of past favor shall also be a disadvantage for him. The best way for him to be locked for a nomination is to receive some tremendous love from the early determining critics circle awards. Unfortunately, that’s not likely to happen, because actors like Penn and Mickey Rourke are bound to fill the hearts of those awards’ voters. Another hurdle seems to be the role Brolin plays, though not necessarily due to the focal figure being so contemporary. The portrait of President Bush is indeed one of the most present-minded biopics in years. However, with a retrospective window of only five years in its most recent setting, W. is hardly any different than The Queen, a not-quite-biopic film that presents an Oscar-winning portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II set only nine years in the past. W. deals with a more touchy subject for Academy members, though, it being about a more disliked and derided leader who has actually been the president of most voters for the past eight years. And the same factors that are keeping audiences away from the film in theaters, regardless of what their politics may be, will probably similarly affect Academy voters’ hesitance to put on that screener DVD. If Academy voters aren’t willing to watch the performance now, though, perhaps they can give it the same twenty years they had between Nixon’s presidency and Oliver Stone’s biopic of that other unlikable president. Maybe in 2028 W. could be the innaugural film nominated in a much-needed future category that retroactively honors should-have-been-awarded performances? Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Mon, 10 Nov 2008 21:01:13 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com11/10/2008 4:01:13 PMIt happened last year for Cate Blanchett. The actress starred in a biopic that critics ripped to shreds, a film that basically bombed at the (American) box office, and yet she managed to score a Best Actress nomination for her reprised performance as the titular monarch of Elizabeth: The Golden Age. Additionally, Blanchett earned another nomination for Best Supporting Actress the same year, for her portrayal of Bob Dylan in I’m Not There. Now Josh Brolin could achieve a similar feat this year, not just by earning separate nominations for playing the titular president of W. and portraying politician-turned-assassin Dan White in Milk, but also by overcoming the difficulty of earning recognition in a lead category for a film that otherwise is not very well regarded. Are Brolin’s hurdles higher than Blanchett’s, though? With all the praise he’s received for W., he’s still far from being considered a sure thing candidate, regardless of his worthiness or the Academy’s history of oftentimes ignoring the critics and the grosses when nominating dependable, standout actors. And boy, does Brolin stand out. Despite giving a strong, surprisingly grounded performance in W., the actor is almost in a world of his own in the film. The supporting players mostly miss their marks, whether through overshot caricature (Thandie Newton’s stroke-faced, alien-voiced Condoleeza Rice) or an apparent lack of effort (Scott Glenn looks bored and unrecognizable as Rumsfeld, while Toby Jones for some reason offers a Karl Rove who’s more huggable than slimy). Both problems may have been due to an unclear decision on the film’s intended tone, but regardless, the script is way too simpleminded, as if adapted from the sitting president’s Wikipedia page. Brolin is the only person who keeps the film interesting and engrossing by making the character his own rather than going for total impersonation. Some of his movements and inflections consist of outright aping, but his personalization allows for unpredictability in much of his execution. Certainly it’s a performance as good as Joaquin Phoenix’s in Walk the Line and Jamie Foxx’s in Ray. Perhaps if W. were about a musician-turned-president, with Brolin offering his own singing voice, his nomination would be more assured? So far it seems he’s hardly being considered. Sites ranking the actor’s chances in chart form include And the Winner Is…, which places him tenth in the running, Entertainment Weekly, which puts him alphabetically somewhere between ninth and thirteenth while calling him a long shot, Movie City News, which lists him seventh with a comment that he deserves the nom “111%”, and In Contention, which also puts him at seventh place. Hollywood Elsewhere’s Jeff Wells merely includes him as one of eight contenders for the lead actor category, which is at least more of an approval than the others. So what are those hurdles that are keeping him out of the fortunate five? As of this past weekend, W. is down to 17th place in its fourth weekend at the box office, and it hasn’t yet even passed the $25 million mark domestically. Not that a film needs to be a hit with moviegoers to make a difference with the Academy, though, right? This time last year, Elizabeth: The Golden Age was similarly fading from the interests of ticket buyers in its fifth week, having made a meager $16 million. And of the ten Best Actor nominees of the last two years, half came from films that grossed less than W. Then there are the film’s poor reviews, which have earned W. a Metacritic score of 56. Compared to Elizabeth: The Golden Age’s score of 45, that’s not actually too much of a drawback. And if the Academy can nominate Sean Penn for I Am Sam in spite of that movie’s reception (Metacritic score of 28!), it shouldn’t have any problem with a performance from a picture that at least somewhat pleased more than 50% of critics. Of course, Penn was and is an Oscar vet. So was Blanchett, who had already been nominated for the same role in the first Elizabeth. It wouldn’t be surprising if some Academy members voted for her Elizabeth: The Golden Age performance without even having seen the movie. Meanwhile, Brolin’s greatest film honor as of yet is being one-seventh of the SAG Award-winning ensemble cast of No Country for Old Men. Last year he may have deserved a double nomination for his lead performance in that film and his supporting bit in American Gangster, but he failed to garner the Academy’s notice. Though some people see Brolin garnering two nominations this year as a way of making up for his prior snubs, the actor’s lack of past favor shall also be a disadvantage for him. The best way for him to be locked for a nomination is to receive some tremendous love from the early determining critics circle awards. Unfortunately, that’s not likely to happen, because actors like Penn and Mickey Rourke are bound to fill the hearts of those awards’ voters. Another hurdle seems to be the role Brolin plays, though not necessarily due to the focal figure being so contemporary. The portrait of President Bush is indeed one of the most present-minded biopics in years. However, with a retrospective window of only five years in its most recent setting, W. is hardly any different than The Queen, a not-quite-biopic film that presents an Oscar-winning portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II set only nine years in the past. W. deals with a more touchy subject for Academy members, though, it being about a more disliked and derided leader who has actually been the president of most voters for the past eight years. And the same factors that are keeping audiences away from the film in theaters, regardless of what their politics may be, will probably similarly affect Academy voters’ hesitance to put on that screener DVD. If Academy voters aren’t willing to watch the performance now, though, perhaps they can give it the same twenty years they had between Nixon’s presidency and Oliver Stone’s biopic of that other unlikable president. Maybe in 2028 W. could be the innaugural film nominated in a much-needed future category that retroactively honors should-have-been-awarded performances? Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/groups/Filmgaming/Re_Recast_HIGH_FIDELITY_2000_Top_5_Challenge/563/36468/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: Kowalski76
Post To: Filmgaming
Post Date: 10/17/2008 6:29:29 PM
Body: [quote user="SkyPilot"] Recast HIGH FIDELITY winner -- kowalski76Great list kowalski! It seems to be a favorite with the group, too. Ewan Mcgregor ... Rob GordonKate Winslet... LauraEwen Bremner ... Dick (the quiet one)Rhys Ifans... Barry (the Jack Black one)Charlotte Gainsbourg ... Marie De SalleHayley Atwell ... Charlie NicholsonShirley Henderson ... LizSteve Coogan ... Ian 'Ray' RaymondStephen Fry ... Middle aged customer (the guys won't help him)Ben Whishaw ... Louis, the cool customerRussell Brand ... Marco (the guy Charlie falls for)Bruce Springsteen ... HimselfReally great trio for Rob, Dick and Barry. I'd love to see the dynamic between ewan MacGregor, a meekly opinionated Ewen Bremner, and a rude & smarmy Rhys Ifans. Some great picks others mentioned are Shirley Henderson for Rob's friend Liz and Charlotte Gainsbourg as Marie de Salle. This would be a real flip from her conscientious, vulnerable role in I'm Not There; I think of de Salle as thicker skinned, a real heartbreaker. I also really like Steve Coogan as Ray. To me Coogan seems especially suited for strange or slightly larger-than-life characters, so although I can see why rustymills18 and chrismorrell picked him for Rob, I still think Coogan shines better as a character actor. I laughed out loud when I saw rustymills18 cast Sting as the middle-aged square. And filmgal81, John Malkovich would be great as Ray!gsanchet made an interesting point: since in Hornby's novel the characters are Brits arguing about American music, the characters seem sort of silly. I know what gsanchet means, but I feel like there's something about good art that invites people to connect with it, and the artists themselves, on a very personal level.For example, I have strong opinions about what the best Shakespeare plays are, and those were written by an Englishman five hundred years ago! Why does art that I love make me feel like I've befriended the artist? Why do I make the jump from a thought like "The Tempest is one of my favorite stories," to a thought like "Shakespeare and I really would've gotten along." Can anyone relate to this? I don't mean just with Shakespeare, but with any artist. Top 5 ListsI enjoyed all of your top five lists, but ElCid2002 is getting a t-shirt for his Top 5 Underrated B movies. (But I do have to go on record for disliking Cemetery Man, his #3 choice).5. Tapeheads4. The Story of Ricky3. Dellamorte Dellamore (Cemetery Man) 2. Repo Man1. Night of the CreepsAnd dreamtupelo, thanks very much for the Top Five Films We'd Have a Blast Recasting. I will definitely pick at least one of these before the year is out. This goes for everyone: feel free to tell me which movies you want to recast. Here's dreamtupelo's list: 5. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest4. Apocalypse Now3. It's A Wonderful Life2. Casablanca1. The Godfather Saga (1, 2 & 3-who doesn't want to recast Sofia?)Thanks for sharing your thoughts guys! adam [/quote] Thanks, I enjoyed taking part. Hornby is a big lover of American music as he re-iterated later on with his book 31 Songs. The list follows the trend set by his choice of music for High Fidelity. From reading both books I'd say he doesn't confuse music with image, which I think a lot of us brits may be guilty of doing a lot more than our American friends. He has little or no musical hang-up's. If he likes something that's not normally perceived as cool, he's not afraid to champion it still.
]]>Fri, 17 Oct 2008 22:29:29 GMTKowalski76Filmgaming10/17/2008 6:29:29 PM[quote user="SkyPilot"] Recast HIGH FIDELITY winner -- kowalski76Great list kowalski! It seems to be a favorite with the group, too. Ewan Mcgregor ... Rob GordonKate Winslet... LauraEwen Bremner ... Dick (the quiet one)Rhys Ifans... Barry (the Jack Black one)Charlotte Gainsbourg ... Marie De SalleHayley Atwell ... Charlie NicholsonShirley Henderson ... LizSteve Coogan ... Ian 'Ray' RaymondStephen Fry ... Middle aged customer (the guys won't help him)Ben Whishaw ... Louis, the cool customerRussell Brand ... Marco (the guy Charlie falls for)Bruce Springsteen ... HimselfReally great trio for Rob, Dick and Barry. I'd love to see the dynamic between ewan MacGregor, a meekly opinionated Ewen Bremner, and a rude &amp; smarmy Rhys Ifans. Some great picks others mentioned are Shirley Henderson for Rob's friend Liz and Charlotte Gainsbourg as Marie de Salle. This would be a real flip from her conscientious, vulnerable role in I'm Not There; I think of de Salle as thicker skinned, a real heartbreaker. I also really like Steve Coogan as Ray. To me Coogan seems especially suited for strange or slightly larger-than-life characters, so although I can see why rustymills18 and chrismorrell picked him for Rob, I still think Coogan shines better as a character actor. I laughed out loud when I saw rustymills18 cast Sting as the middle-aged square. And filmgal81, John Malkovich would be great as Ray!gsanchet made an interesting point: since in Hornby's novel the characters are Brits arguing about American music, the characters seem sort of silly. I know what gsanchet means, but I feel like there's something about good art that invites people to connect with it, and the artists themselves, on a very personal level.For example, I have strong opinions about what the best Shakespeare plays are, and those were written by an Englishman five hundred years ago! Why does art that I love make me feel like I've befriended the artist? Why do I make the jump from a thought like "The Tempest is one of my favorite stories," to a thought like "Shakespeare and I really would've gotten along." Can anyone relate to this? I don't mean just with Shakespeare, but with any artist. Top 5 ListsI enjoyed all of your top five lists, but ElCid2002 is getting a t-shirt for his Top 5 Underrated B movies. (But I do have to go on record for disliking Cemetery Man, his #3 choice).5. Tapeheads4. The Story of Ricky3. Dellamorte Dellamore (Cemetery Man) 2. Repo Man1. Night of the CreepsAnd dreamtupelo, thanks very much for the Top Five Films We'd Have a Blast Recasting. I will definitely pick at least one of these before the year is out. This goes for everyone: feel free to tell me which movies you want to recast. Here's dreamtupelo's list: 5. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest4. Apocalypse Now3. It's A Wonderful Life2. Casablanca1. The Godfather Saga (1, 2 &amp; 3-who doesn't want to recast Sofia?)Thanks for sharing your thoughts guys! adam [/quote] Thanks, I enjoyed taking part. Hornby is a big lover of American music as he re-iterated later on with his book 31 Songs. The list follows the trend set by his choice of music for High Fidelity. From reading both books I'd say he doesn't confuse music with image, which I think a lot of us brits may be guilty of doing a lot more than our American friends. He has little or no musical hang-up's. If he likes something that's not normally perceived as cool, he's not afraid to champion it still. http://www.spout.com/groups/Filmgaming/Re_Recast_HIGH_FIDELITY_2000_Top_5_Challenge/563/36456/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: SkyPilot
Post To: Filmgaming
Post Date: 10/17/2008 2:27:02 PM
Body: Recast HIGH FIDELITY winner -- kowalski76Great list kowalski! It seems to be a favorite with the group, too. Ewan Mcgregor ... Rob GordonKate Winslet... LauraEwen Bremner ... Dick (the quiet one)Rhys Ifans... Barry (the Jack Black one)Charlotte Gainsbourg ... Marie De SalleHayley Atwell ... Charlie NicholsonShirley Henderson ... LizSteve Coogan ... Ian 'Ray' RaymondStephen Fry ... Middle aged customer (the guys won't help him)Ben Whishaw ... Louis, the cool customerRussell Brand ... Marco (the guy Charlie falls for)Bruce Springsteen ... HimselfReally great trio for Rob, Dick and Barry. I'd love to see the dynamic between ewan MacGregor, a meekly opinionated Ewen Bremner, and a rude & smarmy Rhys Ifans. Some great picks others mentioned are Shirley Henderson for Rob's friend Liz and Charlotte Gainsbourg as Marie de Salle. This would be a real flip from her conscientious, vulnerable role in I'm Not There; I think of de Salle as thicker skinned, a real heartbreaker. I also really like Steve Coogan as Ray. To me Coogan seems especially suited for strange or slightly larger-than-life characters, so although I can see why rustymills18 and chrismorrell picked him for Rob, I still think Coogan shines better as a character actor. I laughed out loud when I saw rustymills18 cast Sting as the middle-aged square. And filmgal81, John Malkovich would be great as Ray!gsanchet made an interesting point: since in Hornby's novel the characters are Brits arguing about American music, the characters seem sort of silly. I know what gsanchet means, but I feel like there's something about good art that invites people to connect with it, and the artists themselves, on a very personal level.For example, I have strong opinions about what the best Shakespeare plays are, and those were written by an Englishman five hundred years ago! Why does art that I love make me feel like I've befriended the artist? Why do I make the jump from a thought like "The Tempest is one of my favorite stories," to a thought like "Shakespeare and I really would've gotten along." Can anyone relate to this? I don't mean just with Shakespeare, but with any artist. Top 5 ListsI enjoyed all of your top five lists, but ElCid2002 is getting a t-shirt for his Top 5 Underrated B movies. (But I do have to go on record for disliking Cemetery Man, his #3 choice).5. Tapeheads4. The Story of Ricky3. Dellamorte Dellamore (Cemetery Man) 2. Repo Man1. Night of the CreepsAnd dreamtupelo, thanks very much for the Top Five Films We'd Have a Blast Recasting. I will definitely pick at least one of these before the year is out. This goes for everyone: feel free to tell me which movies you want to recast. Here's dreamtupelo's list: 5. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest4. Apocalypse Now3. It's A Wonderful Life2. Casablanca1. The Godfather Saga (1, 2 & 3-who doesn't want to recast Sofia?)Thanks for sharing your thoughts guys! adam
]]>Fri, 17 Oct 2008 18:27:02 GMTSkyPilotFilmgaming10/17/2008 2:27:02 PMRecast HIGH FIDELITY winner -- kowalski76Great list kowalski! It seems to be a favorite with the group, too. Ewan Mcgregor ... Rob GordonKate Winslet... LauraEwen Bremner ... Dick (the quiet one)Rhys Ifans... Barry (the Jack Black one)Charlotte Gainsbourg ... Marie De SalleHayley Atwell ... Charlie NicholsonShirley Henderson ... LizSteve Coogan ... Ian 'Ray' RaymondStephen Fry ... Middle aged customer (the guys won't help him)Ben Whishaw ... Louis, the cool customerRussell Brand ... Marco (the guy Charlie falls for)Bruce Springsteen ... HimselfReally great trio for Rob, Dick and Barry. I'd love to see the dynamic between ewan MacGregor, a meekly opinionated Ewen Bremner, and a rude &amp; smarmy Rhys Ifans. Some great picks others mentioned are Shirley Henderson for Rob's friend Liz and Charlotte Gainsbourg as Marie de Salle. This would be a real flip from her conscientious, vulnerable role in I'm Not There; I think of de Salle as thicker skinned, a real heartbreaker. I also really like Steve Coogan as Ray. To me Coogan seems especially suited for strange or slightly larger-than-life characters, so although I can see why rustymills18 and chrismorrell picked him for Rob, I still think Coogan shines better as a character actor. I laughed out loud when I saw rustymills18 cast Sting as the middle-aged square. And filmgal81, John Malkovich would be great as Ray!gsanchet made an interesting point: since in Hornby's novel the characters are Brits arguing about American music, the characters seem sort of silly. I know what gsanchet means, but I feel like there's something about good art that invites people to connect with it, and the artists themselves, on a very personal level.For example, I have strong opinions about what the best Shakespeare plays are, and those were written by an Englishman five hundred years ago! Why does art that I love make me feel like I've befriended the artist? Why do I make the jump from a thought like "The Tempest is one of my favorite stories," to a thought like "Shakespeare and I really would've gotten along." Can anyone relate to this? I don't mean just with Shakespeare, but with any artist. Top 5 ListsI enjoyed all of your top five lists, but ElCid2002 is getting a t-shirt for his Top 5 Underrated B movies. (But I do have to go on record for disliking Cemetery Man, his #3 choice).5. Tapeheads4. The Story of Ricky3. Dellamorte Dellamore (Cemetery Man) 2. Repo Man1. Night of the CreepsAnd dreamtupelo, thanks very much for the Top Five Films We'd Have a Blast Recasting. I will definitely pick at least one of these before the year is out. This goes for everyone: feel free to tell me which movies you want to recast. Here's dreamtupelo's list: 5. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest4. Apocalypse Now3. It's A Wonderful Life2. Casablanca1. The Godfather Saga (1, 2 &amp; 3-who doesn't want to recast Sofia?)Thanks for sharing your thoughts guys! adam http://www.spout.com/blogs/kowalski76/archive/2008/10/16/36417.aspx Post By: Kowalski76
Post To: Rebellious Celluloid
Post Date: 10/16/2008 6:26:31 PM
Body: 'I'm Not There' is a poetic but less than revealing biopic. You don't need to be fanatical about Bob Dylan to like it. It doesn't tell anything the average fan doesn't know already. The hook is in the stylistic and innovative way it is executed and how the actors capture the various cells of Dylan's life. I wanted to dismiss the film early on but it hooked me before I could shrug it off as profound mundanity. Director, Todd Haynes turns the film on it's head as if it's written by the subject himself, as if each of the six cells are Dylan's own fantastical view of himself. It doesn't always work, sometimes it feels just too odd and quirky for its own good, but regardless of this you just can't help but love it. Stand-out's for me are Cate Blanchett as folk-gone-rock traitor Bob and one I totally unexpected from thirteen-year-old Marcus Carl Franklin, the kid really done got the blues. Dylan has always said there is no point to his music 'It Just Is'. Tthe same goes for Haynes film. He has created a new genre with I'm Not There... long live the bioddity!
]]>Thu, 16 Oct 2008 22:26:31 GMTKowalski76Rebellious Celluloid10/16/2008 6:26:31 PM'I'm Not There' is a poetic but less than revealing biopic. You don't need to be fanatical about Bob Dylan to like it. It doesn't tell anything the average fan doesn't know already. The hook is in the stylistic and innovative way it is executed and how the actors capture the various cells of Dylan's life. I wanted to dismiss the film early on but it hooked me before I could shrug it off as profound mundanity. Director, Todd Haynes turns the film on it's head as if it's written by the subject himself, as if each of the six cells are Dylan's own fantastical view of himself. It doesn't always work, sometimes it feels just too odd and quirky for its own good, but regardless of this you just can't help but love it. Stand-out's for me are Cate Blanchett as folk-gone-rock traitor Bob and one I totally unexpected from thirteen-year-old Marcus Carl Franklin, the kid really done got the blues. Dylan has always said there is no point to his music 'It Just Is'. Tthe same goes for Haynes film. He has created a new genre with I'm Not There... long live the bioddity! http://www.spout.com/groups/Coming_Soon/New_Movies_Week_of_9_26_Shia_LaBeouf_censorship/216/35395/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: SkyPilot
Post To: Coming Soon
Post Date: 9/22/2008 4:40:11 PM
Body: New Movies Week of 9/26 Eagle Eye Spout's giving away five Eagle Eye swag packages this week. Each package includes an Eagle Eye zip-up hoodie, t-shirt, and flash drive pen (which is total spy gear: a pen and a flash drive). Find out how to win. Eagle Eye makes the second Hitchcock-inspired flick from Shia LaBeouf and director D.J. Caruso. Eagle Eye sounds a lot like The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Disturbia (was this good?) is a teen update of Rear Window. Would you like to see LaBeouf in another Hitchcock update? Would he make a good Norman Bates? I'll say this for the young man--he's starting to pull off being a sex sybol, with or without a crushed hand. (Sorry to hear about that Shia; it'll just make you more impressive, though.) Did anyone out there think he was the best part of Indiana Jones 4? "What is that? Oh, that's just a thing." Michelle Monaghan was good in Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang but the chemistry between Robert Downey, Jr. and Val Kilmer stole that show. Miracle at St. Anna It's a shame that Spike Lee's new movie isn't impressing anyone, because I think it looks really interesting. It made me realize I've never seen a WWII movie about an all-black "Buffalo Soldier" unit. Maybe that's because America prefers to think of themselves as the unambiguous good guys during WWII? Thoughts on this?Also, I haven't seen many Spike Lee movies but I really liked Inside Man. Nights in Rodanthe Diane Lane and Richard Gere in an adaptation from a Nicholas Sparks (Message in a Bottle, The Notebook). I like Diane Lane, she was great in that TV miniseries Lonesome Dove. It also stars Tommy Lee Jones and Robert Duvall, and the moral universe of it feels kind of like No Country for Old Men. Richard Gere on the other hand--sure he's good-looking, but otherwise I can't figure out the appeal. The only thing I've liked him in is the Bob Dylan biopic I'm Not There. Towelhead is in wide release now. Anyone seen this yet? I'm pretty interested. LIMITED RELEASE Blindness Wow, this sounds interesting to me: when a sudden plague of blindness strikes a city, the afflicted must band together to survive the cruel conditions of their quarantine. Starring Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Danny Glover, and Gael Garcia Bernal. This reminds me of that Stephen King TV miniseries The Stand, which I'm hoping and praying will come to DVD. Anyone remember it? I loved the crap out of it when I was 13, haven't seen it since. Choke I like Sam Rockwell, who stars in this adaptation of a Chuck Palahniuk novel. (Palahniuk also wrote Fight Club, which led to the rare case of a movie that surpasses the book.) Rockwell's charcter cruises at sex addict meetings and asks for handouts after pretending to choke in restaurants. Kevin Buist from FilmCouch saw this flick at Toronto and he didn't like it very much. He and Paul will discuss it in FilmCouch #89 (which comes out 9/26.) Forever Strong When professional rugby player Rick Penning (Sean Faris, who's also in the Fight Club-in-high-school Never Back Down) is put behind bars, the warden (Sean Astin) gives Rick a choice: stay behind bars, or play for his long-time rival, Highland Rugby. Rick chooses the latter, and bonds with his new teammates. When Rick's released from prison and returns to his old team, he's given a difficult choice to make when his team faces Highland in the National Championship. Okay, it sounds kind of formulaic but I would totally see that. Fireproof Kirk Cameron plays a firefighter who can risk his life on the job, but can't save his marriage. This one's receiving heavy promotion from Christian radio station KLOV. Question for you guys: any good movies about people trying to salvage their marriage, and the marriage works out? The Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela The tag line "Not your everyday fairy tale" seems pretty accurate: Queen Raquela is a Filipina transsexual prostitute searching for her prince on the internet. Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story Atwater was many things, and different things depending on who you talk to: rogue, political assassin, godfather of American politics (he mentored Karl Rove and George W. Bush). This documentary from Stefan Forbes tries to look at all the angles of a complicated, influential guy. Lucky Ones Three troubled Iraqi veterans take a road trip across the US. The vets are Tim Robbins, Rachel McAdams (I love you, dream woman!) and Michael Pena. Whaledreamers Julian Lennon produced this documentary on the relationship between whales and a tribe of aborigines. Both the whales and people group are slowly disappearing. Lennon, Pierce Brosnan and Geoffrey Rush make appearances. Obscene Documentary on Barney Rosset, the influential publisher who battled censorship (he successfully published Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer after a long legal battle) and introduced American readers to the literature of Samuel Beckett, Tom Stoppard, Harold Pinter, and Eugene Ionesco, among others. He also owned a porno theater. Humboldt County An uptight med student bonds with his pot-loving new girlfriend. Interesting cast (including Fairuza Balk and Peter Bogdanovich), so it might be more interesting than it sounds.
]]>Mon, 22 Sep 2008 20:40:11 GMTSkyPilotComing Soon9/22/2008 4:40:11 PMNew Movies Week of 9/26 Eagle Eye Spout's giving away five Eagle Eye swag packages this week. Each package includes an Eagle Eye zip-up hoodie, t-shirt, and flash drive pen (which is total spy gear: a pen and a flash drive). Find out how to win. Eagle Eye makes the second Hitchcock-inspired flick from Shia LaBeouf and director D.J. Caruso. Eagle Eye sounds a lot like The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Disturbia (was this good?) is a teen update of Rear Window. Would you like to see LaBeouf in another Hitchcock update? Would he make a good Norman Bates? I'll say this for the young man--he's starting to pull off being a sex sybol, with or without a crushed hand. (Sorry to hear about that Shia; it'll just make you more impressive, though.) Did anyone out there think he was the best part of Indiana Jones 4? "What is that? Oh, that's just a thing." Michelle Monaghan was good in Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang but the chemistry between Robert Downey, Jr. and Val Kilmer stole that show. Miracle at St. Anna It's a shame that Spike Lee's new movie isn't impressing anyone, because I think it looks really interesting. It made me realize I've never seen a WWII movie about an all-black "Buffalo Soldier" unit. Maybe that's because America prefers to think of themselves as the unambiguous good guys during WWII? Thoughts on this?Also, I haven't seen many Spike Lee movies but I really liked Inside Man. Nights in Rodanthe Diane Lane and Richard Gere in an adaptation from a Nicholas Sparks (Message in a Bottle, The Notebook). I like Diane Lane, she was great in that TV miniseries Lonesome Dove. It also stars Tommy Lee Jones and Robert Duvall, and the moral universe of it feels kind of like No Country for Old Men. Richard Gere on the other hand--sure he's good-looking, but otherwise I can't figure out the appeal. The only thing I've liked him in is the Bob Dylan biopic I'm Not There. Towelhead is in wide release now. Anyone seen this yet? I'm pretty interested. LIMITED RELEASE Blindness Wow, this sounds interesting to me: when a sudden plague of blindness strikes a city, the afflicted must band together to survive the cruel conditions of their quarantine. Starring Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Danny Glover, and Gael Garcia Bernal. This reminds me of that Stephen King TV miniseries The Stand, which I'm hoping and praying will come to DVD. Anyone remember it? I loved the crap out of it when I was 13, haven't seen it since. Choke I like Sam Rockwell, who stars in this adaptation of a Chuck Palahniuk novel. (Palahniuk also wrote Fight Club, which led to the rare case of a movie that surpasses the book.) Rockwell's charcter cruises at sex addict meetings and asks for handouts after pretending to choke in restaurants. Kevin Buist from FilmCouch saw this flick at Toronto and he didn't like it very much. He and Paul will discuss it in FilmCouch #89 (which comes out 9/26.) Forever Strong When professional rugby player Rick Penning (Sean Faris, who's also in the Fight Club-in-high-school Never Back Down) is put behind bars, the warden (Sean Astin) gives Rick a choice: stay behind bars, or play for his long-time rival, Highland Rugby. Rick chooses the latter, and bonds with his new teammates. When Rick's released from prison and returns to his old team, he's given a difficult choice to make when his team faces Highland in the National Championship. Okay, it sounds kind of formulaic but I would totally see that. Fireproof Kirk Cameron plays a firefighter who can risk his life on the job, but can't save his marriage. This one's receiving heavy promotion from Christian radio station KLOV. Question for you guys: any good movies about people trying to salvage their marriage, and the marriage works out? The Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela The tag line "Not your everyday fairy tale" seems pretty accurate: Queen Raquela is a Filipina transsexual prostitute searching for her prince on the internet. Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story Atwater was many things, and different things depending on who you talk to: rogue, political assassin, godfather of American politics (he mentored Karl Rove and George W. Bush). This documentary from Stefan Forbes tries to look at all the angles of a complicated, influential guy. Lucky Ones Three troubled Iraqi veterans take a road trip across the US. The vets are Tim Robbins, Rachel McAdams (I love you, dream woman!) and Michael Pena. Whaledreamers Julian Lennon produced this documentary on the relationship between whales and a tribe of aborigines. Both the whales and people group are slowly disappearing. Lennon, Pierce Brosnan and Geoffrey Rush make appearances. Obscene Documentary on Barney Rosset, the influential publisher who battled censorship (he successfully published Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer after a long legal battle) and introduced American readers to the literature of Samuel Beckett, Tom Stoppard, Harold Pinter, and Eugene Ionesco, among others. He also owned a porno theater. Humboldt County An uptight med student bonds with his pot-loving new girlfriend. Interesting cast (including Fairuza Balk and Peter Bogdanovich), so it might be more interesting than it sounds. http://www.spout.com/blogs/lmstanley/archive/2008/8/14/33995.aspx Post By: lmstanley
Post To: lmstanley Blog
Post Date: 8/14/2008 9:30:26 AM
Body: I'm Not There has a synopsis that states the movie features Bob Dylan played by different actors focusing on "various stages of his remarkable career." My expectations were one...that different actors would actually be playing Bob Dylan and two...that even though the timeline of the movie might not completely be sequential, I'd still come away with a more holistic view of the life of Bob Dylan. My expectations were not met. First, out of a total of six actors, only two of them seemed to be playing Bob Dylan. Perhaps the others were supposed to represent the various sides of Dylan's psyche, but I didn't get them. And then the way the movie was cut, I kept on waiting for the various scenes to eventually connect on some level, but they didn't. Overall, I left confused thinking that perhaps I don't know Dylan or his music enough to get the abstract storytelling in this film.
]]>Thu, 14 Aug 2008 13:30:26 GMTlmstanleylmstanley Blog8/14/2008 9:30:26 AMI'm Not There has a synopsis that states the movie features Bob Dylan played by different actors focusing on "various stages of his remarkable career." My expectations were one...that different actors would actually be playing Bob Dylan and two...that even though the timeline of the movie might not completely be sequential, I'd still come away with a more holistic view of the life of Bob Dylan. My expectations were not met. First, out of a total of six actors, only two of them seemed to be playing Bob Dylan. Perhaps the others were supposed to represent the various sides of Dylan's psyche, but I didn't get them. And then the way the movie was cut, I kept on waiting for the various scenes to eventually connect on some level, but they didn't. Overall, I left confused thinking that perhaps I don't know Dylan or his music enough to get the abstract storytelling in this film. http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/amazing/MemberTagFilms.aspxamazing
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