Rendez-Vous with French Cinema

If you don't have the time to travel to France this week, do the next best thing and check out the films in the Rendez-Vous with French Cinema series happening in New York City. With 15 US premieres being presented through March 9, you're bound to find a bonbon that will please your palate as well as your eyes. Though my train from Philadelphia arrived in the city a half hour late, the subway trains ran like clockwork taking me cross-town to get tickets and to screenings at the IFC Center in the Village and uptown to Lincoln Center.

The IFC Center, with its exposed brick walls and cushy seats, is a comfortable environment for indie and foreign films. My first screening of the day was the involving Those Who Remain, which warranted more than its half-filled audience. Vincent Lindon and Emmanuelle Devos, who previously costarred in the psychological drama La Moustache, play Bertrand and Lorraine who meet in the cancer ward of the hospital when visiting their bedridden significant others and come to fill an emotional void in each other. Though there is a backdrop of impending death, this drama is rarely bleak or maudlin. Those Who Remain has the feel of an American independent film yet retains a feeling that is distinctly French, taking a simple situation and focusing on the behavior of the characters. Devos (Kings and Queen) lends a lightness to Lorraine that plays well against the concern and guilt of Lindon's Bertrand. Writer-director Anne Le Ny takes a novel approach blurring the lines of love and comfort in a time of need.

Heading to the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center the subway proved to be the best mode of transportation over a cab, as the train pulled into the station just as I arrived and delivered me uptown with a six-minute travel time.

Probably one of the best films shown in the series is A Secret, which deservedly garnered multiple César-award nominations and Best Film at the 2007 Montreal World Film Festival. Adapting the novel by Philippe Grimbert (published as Memory in the US) writer-director Claude Miller casts Mathieu Amalric (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) as François, the story of a man looking back on his childhood during the outbreak of World War II. As a boy, taking an imaginary playmate has deeper meaning when François considers the secret in his family's history and how it continues to affect his life in 1985. Miller conducts the flashback structure with ease, using multiple visual tones for the different time periods. As he stated in a Q&A afterwards, things in the past are recounted in the present and the things recounted in the past are happening now. It's this attention to storytelling that elevates A Secret to its cinematic heights.

Director Cédric Klapisch (L’Auberge Espagnole, Russian Dolls) was on hand to speak about his latest film Paris, which uses a large cast to tell multiple stories from differing neighborhoods in the City of Lights. One of his stars in the ensemble, Romain Duris, makes his sixth collaboration with Klapisch. Playing a young man with a potentially fatal heart condition, Duris easily fluctuates from the sadness of his character Pierre's mortality to incredible glee shown during the happy days as a chorus dancer in a pink and white suit. Juliette Binoche displays a comfortable and natural quality as Elise, Pierre's sister who comes to live with him while awaiting word on a heart transplant. Fabrice Luchini is also captivating as a historian who attempts to woo a much younger woman by sending her anonymous cheezy text messages. Though love is in the air not a lot of new terrritory is covered in this fanciful tale. Yet Paris creates smiles and has enough charm to make any misanthrope say oui oui.

There are a dozen other titles playing at the two salles de cinema during the upcoming week. Be sure to rendezvous with popular young actor Louis Garrel (The Dreamers), director Christophe Honoré (Ma mere, Dans Paris) and other filmmakers scheduled to appear at screenings. Though I'd rather have been in Paris this past weekend, viewing French films in New York proved to be a très pleasant alternative.

My FLICK Scores: Those Who Remain = 8; A Secret = 9; Paris = 7.5

The Other Boleyn Girl

FLICK The story of Anne Boleyn's rise to become Henry VIII's queen and her eventual beheading is somewhat accessible these days with many versions told in movies and on television. The historical fiction novel The Other Boleyn Girl, by Philippa Gregory, speculates on Anne's relationship with her sister, the lesser-known Boleyn, Mary.
Scarlett Johansson as Mary carries the emotional weight of the picture even in her adulterous scenes with the handsome Eric Bana as Henry VIII who is less a focal point than the sisters. Henry appears to have more of a connection with the fair and sensitive Mary rather than with the darker-haired Anne who uses her wits to snare the crown. Though Mary conceives a son with Henry, the little bastard is not considered royal material and is kept hidden. Natalie Portman's performance is strong as the conniving Anne determined to become Henry's queen. Persuading Henry to leave the Roman Catholic Church to divorce Catherine of Aragon is one thing but a male heir is still what matters most. Anne walks on shaky ground when producing daughter Elizabeth and creating the speculation of incest with brother George (Jim Sturgess).
And it's the speculation of Mary where things revolve. The script by Peter Morgan (The Queen) succeeds when contrasting emotion versus intellect, which Johansson and Portman do very well. But the feeling of passion is lacking overall. Kristen Scott Thomas is memorable as their mother who can't convince the men of the family that lives are being destroyed when trading their daughters for financial reward. Though neither wins only one lives with her head intact. My Score: 7 out of 10.

Mario's Movie Moments

In Bruges
FLICK Playwright Martin McDonagh is primarily known for combining wit with dark scenarios in stage productions like The Beauty Queen of Leenane, The Cripple of Inishmaan and The Pillowman. This time he adds feature film director to his resume (McDonagh won an Oscar for a short film) as those qualities are displayed in this simple story of two hit men holed up in a hotel room in Bruges, Belgium after a murder goes awry.
It's the rhythm of the dialogue that particularly works here, and Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson spar nicely as the men in hiding and waiting for a phone call from their boss, played by Ralph Fiennes, who completes the mobster triptych. The acting is great all around but it's nice to see Farrell trade up his bad boy image with a character who has a sensitive side and Fiennes doing just the opposite.
There are few boundaries, sometimes at the expense of dwarf jokes and the ugly American, which meander through the story only to come back around presenting McDonagh's unique voice and showing off the actors more than action.
My Score: 8 out of 10

Vantage Point
FLICK Dialogue has less importance in this suspense film showing a terrorist plot from multiple perspectives emphasizing action rather than character background. I can be a sucker for a good gimmick and though I've seen this one before, particularly on television, the sum of the parts doesn't add up as satisfyingly as they should. But that doesn't mean it's not a fun ride.
The twists and turns take place within a half hour on the critical day when the US president is visiting in Salamanca, Spain. The concept is front and center moving the players along as if in a game of checkers - jumping over one another and building on the prior move to find a winning solution. Dennis Quaid looks nauseous as a Secret Service agent back on the job after taking a bullet for the president a few years earlier. Also joining an international cast are William Hurt, Sigourney Weaver and even to a degree Forest Whitaker who all essentially phone in their performances. Matthew Fox shows his lack of range copping the same attitude as his character Jack on "Lost". I was looking forward to Spanish actor Eduardo Noriega's English-language film debut, but while the star of Open Your Eyes (the basis for remake Vanilla Sky) does his part to create urgency he gets less screen time then most in the ensemble.
An extended car chase near the end of the film might have been more believable with more causalities since it primarily takes place in a densely populated area. But since this is a big-budget Hollywood film, there is little time for reality, no matter how many points of view you get. My Score: 6.5 out of 10

Persepolis

FLICK When I think of an animated movie it's easy to expect fantasies like Hayao Miyazaki's Howl's Moving Castle, or fun family movies targeted to kids and adults like Toy Story and Monster House.
Persepolis is an endearing and witty coming-of-age film based on the autobiographical graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi who grew up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. But the story is incredibly involving and has so much heart that there were times I forgot I was watching an animated movie.
Marjane narrates her story beginning when she was a young girl living with her parents and regularly visiting her grandmother, who has strong feminist ideals and offers useful advice. As a teenager (voiced by Chiara Mastroianni, with her real-life mother Catherine Deneuve as Marjane's mother) she is sent away to Vienna to escape the repressive time of Tehran. She rocks out to punk music, learns lessons of love and eventually lives on the streets.
The bold black-and-white drawings have an expressionistic quality that offers a look at a less than joyful past contrasted with the supposed freedom expressed in the colored portions of present day France, where Marjane is today. But the constant motion of the images has a lyrical quality that nicely juxtaposes and makes easier to grasp the growing experiences of a youth within the absurdities of a dangerous political climate. This memoir has a lot of heart without being overly sentimental and I liked Marjane so much that I would have watched if the story continued to have followed her into and through the present. My Score: 9.5 out of 10

LOST and Found

TELEVISION I've been enjoying some of the downtime created by the lack of new episodes of my favorite TV programs. There has been more time for movies, and Medium, Nip/Tuck and Project Runway have kept me busy. But the one show that has kept me waiting since last May is Lost. Even with a reduced season (8 instead of 16 episodes) due to the writer's strike, I am ready to get back to the island and find out what the creators and producers have put together for us. What makes this show work so well is the perfect blend of drama, multi-layered characters, mystery, a dash of science fiction, literary references and detailed storytelling that never ceases to surprise.

Most entertainment sites have recently been posting cast interviews and revealing spoilers but be sure to check out and catch up with the character profiles posted daily at TV Guide until Thursday's premiere. They kicked off with Sun Kwon, then followed with Desmond, Juliet and others with today's highlight being Kate, a character that is as mysterious as that smoke monster-inhabited island. So forget about the past and get ready to flash forward into what should be a thrilling season four. If you need to catch up on the past three seasons, check out Lost in 8:15!

In Treatment

TELEVISION There is nothing I like more than character-driven dramas and HBO is serving up five sessions a week with its new serial In Treatment. Gabriel Byrne is commanding as the therapist, Paul, who offers perspective and ultimately gets involved in his patients' lives. There is no better way to see the multiple sides of these characters than when they're alternately introspective or combative with Paul as he attempts to make them aware of what their behavior means and from where their motivations evolve.
The acting is engaging, diverse and always thought provoking. Patients show up once a week on the same day. Laura (Melissa George) shows up each Monday to discuss her problems with men and complicates matters in the first episode by confessing her fantasies of Paul. Alex (Blair Underwood) is a navy pilot with father issues who challenges Paul every Tuesday. Wednesdays are reserved for Sophie (Mia Wasikowska), a smart teenage gymnast that resists therapy after a supposed accidental injury but may have family issues causing her rebelliousness. The next day a mismatched Jake and Amy (Josh Charles, Embeth Davitz) try to work out the imbalances of their marriage. On Fridays Paul visits his therapist Gina (Dianne Wiest) where we hear not only what is bothering him but his perceptions of the past week and how his own life has influenced the advice he gives, which may ultimately serve his own purposes.
The confinement of the meeting room is the perfect setting for this drama. There is nowhere to go other than to stay focused on the conversations. The camera has more options than you'd think but is best when the discussion heats up and slowly moves in on the characters' faces, not only for inspection but closing in on what may be the realization of their seemingly meaningless stories.
The writing is smart, insightful and becomes more engrossing with each scheduled visit. Make an appointment each night Monday through Friday at 9:30 to catch the next session.

Best Films of 2007

The following choices are based on 124 films I screened in a theater in 2007. Still there are some titles that held a strong interest for me but I didn't get to screen, like "Lars and the Good Girl", "Margot at the Wedding", "In the Valley of Elah" and "Control". And then there are titles on DVD that I’ve screened that make up what I didn't see in the theater. (And I'll save television programs and performances for the end of the season.) In general, it seems a lot of the quality films this year were taken from well-regarded source material and little written directly for the screen. Not sure what that’s saying except that perhaps I better make more time for reading.


There Will Be Blood
Paul Thomas Anderson skillfully oversees the acting, cinematography, and music to give a stunning look at an oilman's greed gone out of control in Southern California at the beginning of the 20th century. It's particularly heightened when contrasted with bible preaching and the emotional bonds of fathers and sons. Every shot is carefully thought out, the music enhances each plot point, and Daniel Day-Lewis has created a new face of evil in epic proportions.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
I was initially skeptical to attend the tale of Sweeney Todd, having seen numerous stage productions of the amazing Stephen Sondheim musical, but was also curious as to how director Tim Burton might pull off material that seemed appropriate for his style. The choices made to tailor the material from one medium to the other suit it perfectly. Eliminating songs sung by the chorus helped a lot. And the dark look of London is the perfect backdrop for a barber seeking revenge and serving up pies with his murdered victims. (Quite the opposite of the sweet tarts served up in this year's confection Waitress.) Though Johnny Depp's voice occasionally sounds a bit thin, particularly when reaching for the high notes, his acting makes up for any shortness of breadth. Nothing's going to harm you in this successful production.

No Country for Old Men
There is yet more bloodshed in Joel and Ethan Coen well-crafted adaptation of the Cormac McCarthy novel. The Coen’s have found the perfect source material to match their style and sensibility. Their pitch perfect deliberate pacing is involving and adds appropriate tension, particularly when comparing the consequences of moral choices and fate. Lots of great performances here but who can forget Javier Bardem as a professional hit man with a page boy hairdo wielding a stun gun and carrying a tank of compressed air?

3:10 to Yuma
James Mangold’s remake of the 1957 classic based on a short story by Elmore Leonard hits the mark with one of the best shoot-‘em-up action flicks of the year. Thoughtful performances by Christian Bale, as the rancher who hopes to earn a reward for escorting an outlaw (Russell Crowe) to meet the train to Yuma are nicely contrasted with gang member Ben Foster who memorably plays his part with psychopathic gusto. Smart direction, stunning cinematography, lots of subtext and character connections that never miss their mark elevate an otherwise standard cowboy movie and squarely hit a bull’s-eye.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Le Scaphandre et le papillon)
Daring in that it's mostly filmed from the perspective of Elle editor Jean-Dominique Bauby who suffered a stroke and lives with "locked-in syndrome" (paralysis affecting most of his body except his left eye) we get a vision of what it may have been like for Bauby to see and hear. The contortions of actor Mathieu Amalric's body are not easy to see nor probably easy to maintain. Julian Schnabel's bio-pic celebrates the human spirit by communicating the importance of connecting no matter how large the odds.

Into the Wild*
Emile Hirsch embodies the spirit of Christopher McCandless in Sean Penn's thoughtful portrait of the idealistic 20-year-old who rejected the materialism he was taught to respect. The title suggests going somewhere savage but it also shows us the mind of a young man that is alternately rebellious and a free spirit happily living an idealistic lifestyle. Penn's direction is ambitious showing vast landscapes from around the country and up to Alaska mirroring the beauty of McCandless' intentions and the extent that he's willing to go to achieve it. The nonlinear structure of the story pits his solitude against a variety of people he meets, ultimately realizing too late that it's the connections we make that are truly valuable.

The Savages
The scars of bad parenting and damaged childhoods are gently revealed when Jon and Wendy Savage need to arrange for their father to be admitted into a nursing home. Director Tamara Jenkins’ script is the perfect combination of wit and perception and is kicked up a notch with nuanced performances by Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman as the siblings.

Across the Universe*
Julie Taymor's film uses songs by The Beatles to create a simple love story but makes up for anything lacking with lots of great singing, visual splendor and heartfelt entertainment. Jim Sturgess and Evan Rachel Wood are the romantic couple that we follow on a journey through a mixture of psychedelia, war protesting and love, love, love.

Paprika
An anime treat bursting with color that blurs the lines between reality and dreams. That's because someone has stolen a dream machine and is playing with the lives of others. It's science against nature, with psychological twists that keep you glued to the screen. And did I mention the colors? Leave the kids home for this one.

Away from Her*
Alzheimer’s is given sensitive treatment in Sarah Polley’s directing debut. The simplicity of her presentation accents the way the disease can suddenly intrude on your life without warning. Involving performances are headed by Julie Christie who portrays a multitude of expressions including confusion, love, recognition and detachment.

Other favorites:

Jindabyne*
Once*
La Vie en Rose*
SiCKO*
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
I'm Not There
Red Road*
The Host (AKA Gwoemul) 괴물

*See full reviews on this site

Back on Track

It may look as if I've been slacking off, and perhaps I have been as far as postings, but actually I've been busy busy busy going to movies and theater events in spite of the fact that the change to colder weather has been trying to keep me down.

I've been checking out the new fall TV season too and posting blogs at tvguide.com for one of the most engrossing shows I've watched in a long time, HBO's Tell Me You Love Me, and filling in for Brothers & Sisters. Be sure to check them out and stop back to see where I've been.

Into the Wild

FLICK Emile Hirsch totally embodies the spirit of 20-year-old Christopher McCandless in the engrossing film Into the Wild based on the nonfiction bestseller by Jon Krakauer. Rejecting the materialistic values of his parents (Marcia Gay Harden and William Hurt) McCandless searches for a peaceful existence living off the land. With elements of a road trip film, the film is more a portrait of an optimistic young man renaming himself Alexander Supertramp and exploring ways to become a better and more simplistic person.
The title suggests going somewhere savage. And literally McCandless finds himself naively in a few tough spots, being beaten while hitching a ride on a train and ending up in the middle of Alaska to live in a run down bus. But it also suggests venturing into the mind of a young man who can be seen alternately rebellious and a free spirit happily living an idealistic lifestyle. Chris is influenced by Henry David Thoreau's Walden, which helps to push him to achieve his goal and abandon not only his family's ethics, but also the family itself. (In a revealing interview with Premiere, Marcia Gay Harden considers McCandless' mother's point-of-view stating that though it was hard to accept his leaving it was crueler for him to leave them without saying goodbye.)
The entire cast is incredible, including Katherine Keener, Vince Vaughn and especially a heartfelt performance by Hal Holbrook.
While emphasizing a simplistic existence, Sean Penn's direction is ambitious going on location and showing vast landscapes from around the country and up to Alaska mirroring the beauty of Chris' intentions and the extent that he's willing to go to achieve it. The nonlinear structure of the story pits McCandless' solitude against a variety of people he meets, ultimately realizing too late that it's the connections we make that are truly valuable. My Score: 8.5 out of 10.

Jim Norton: Monster Rain

TELEVISION Popular words and phrases are easily found online in the Urban Dictionary, and the title of Jim Norton's HBO comedy special Monster Rain, airing Saturday night at 10PM, is no exception. The phrase comes from a childhood "game." Whenever it rains, someone screams "monster rain" and you run under the porch to get a blowjob. Norton said he played with at least 10 boys and girls by the fourth grade. Sound like fun? Check out the hilarious special!
His childhood encounters haven't hindered his adult experiences, and though it seems he prefers women, Norton's stories express that sex is sex no matter where it's coming from. He takes away the social standards and gets to the heart of what make most men tick. Though offensive to some, it's this all-inclusive hold-nothing-back brand of humor that makes him such a lovable little pervert.
Norton's book "Happy Endings: The Tales of a Meaty-Breasted Zilch" was released in the summer and went as high as #4 on the New York Times bestseller list for hardcover nonfiction. In it he shares a wide variety of memories in humorous essays that range from working on the Colin Quinn show Tough Crowd, hooking up with hookers, and obsessing about meeting Alan Alda.
Previously on the HBO sitcom Lucky Louie, he's still a busy fucker as a regular on the daily XM satellite radio program The Opie and Anthony Show.
Everyone and everything is a target in Jim Norton's world, including pop culture, race and Islam. As he says in tomorrow night's special: "Don't say the F word, don't say the N word, don't say the C word. How the hell is anyone supposed to know when you're addressing them?"