As you may have noticed (if you religiously study my year-end lists even months after the given year has ended), I recently moved Todd Haynes’ I’m Not There up to #3 on my 2007 list. I did this after rewatching the film on DVD, and then rewatching it again with Haynes’ commentary track. When I first saw the film in the theater, I was convinced of its greatness — now, though, I’m convinced it’s one of the best films of the ’00s and further proof that 2007 was one of the finest years for cinema in a very long time.
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Monthly Archives: May 2008
Elvis Costello – Momofuku
Elvis Costello can be described in many ways, but ‘spontaneous’ is not among them. His albums tend to be high-concept and fastidiously produced. From the chamber music and literary theme of The Juliet Letters to Painted From Memory, an album co-written with Burt Bacharach. Even his rock output has followed suit: The Delivery Man was a song cycle based on an unwritten play about a southern love triangle.
The man doesn’t do simple.
Walk Hard
Date: May 12, 2008
Location: Clifton Living Room
Yet another Apatow production… this one co-written by Judd with Jake Kasdan (who directed). A parody of musical biopics, Walk Hard is many steps above the Scary Movie see-what-sticks approach, opting for more nuance. Don’t get me wrong, though… there are huge laughs here, and some truly absurd moments (such as when young Dewey Cox accidentally cuts his brother in half with a machete and the severed boy shouts out “You halved me!”).
The film is mostly a take-off on Walk the Line, following the Johnny Cash template precisely, including the doubting first wife, flirtation with a good-old-girl (played by the very sexy Jenna Fischer), prison term, descent into drug addiction, rehab and ultimate redemption. But I was more amused by the musical tangents, like Cox’s meditation session with The Beatles (hilariously played by Jack Black, Paul Rudd, Jason Schwartzman and Justin Long) or his stint as a Dylan-esque folk singer (the spot-on Dylan parody song gave me my biggest laugh in the whole movie).
Overall, the film (necessarily) lacks the spark of truth that makes Apatow’s best films so special. But it’s a lot of fun, and there’s certainly something to be said for that.
Iron Man
Date: May 3, 2008
Location: AMC Sunset Place
Now that’s why you go to the movies!
I had high hopes and expectations for Iron Man the moment I heard Robert Downey Jr. was the star. He’s one of the finest actors working today, but beyond that, he brings a very specific sarcastic charisma to all his roles that puts him in a class of his own. So Downey as a superhero… that would have to be good.
And it certainly is, in large part because of Downey, but also because of director Jon Favreau, sidekick Gwyneth Paltrow, the team who wrote the script and some wonderful special effects and action sequences.
Meet Me In Montauk 