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.
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.
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.
Well, it’s not even May yet, but in the movie world Summer is upon us. The Summer season — home of the blockbusters, sequels and an occasional original idea (and sometimes a combination of the three) — kicks off this Friday with Iron Man, Jon Favreau’s comic book flick with the wonderfully twisted Robert Downey Jr. in the starring role.
I’m really looking forward to that one — and 17 others. Follow me to the jump to see exactly which ones, in order. Disclaimer: These rankings are subject to change… titles will no doubt fall off this list, and dark horses I’ve left out might emerge.
Date: April 29, 2008
Location: Clifton Living Room
Cloverfield is the latest film in the genre popularized by The Blair Witch Project — the movie is made up entirely of “found footage” from a camcorder. It’s an interesting idea, and well-executed, though it sometimes strains credibility. Would you really hang on to the camera while being chased by a hundred-foot-tall sea monster? On the other hand, we are talking about a group of 20-something Manhattanites who have grown up in a world of YouTube and vodcasts, so maybe it isn’t much of a stretch.
The film stays true to its conceit… sometimes distractingly so. When the guy with the camera runs (and he runs a lot), we see exactly what you’d expect to see — a lot of bounce, a lot of blur. At times, Cloverfield makes The Bourne Ultimatum look like My Dinner With Andre. What’s new here is the marriage of such a low-tech shooting style with state-of-the-art digital effects. The monster (the existence of which is never explained) looks very real and very scary, as does the destruction it brings to New York City. There’s an underlying whiff of 9/11 about the proceedings, though it is directly referenced only once when a character in the background wonders aloud after the first explosion “Are we being attacked again?”
Mostly, though, this is a big dumb monster movie, and it’s quite enjoyable on that level. The characters are paper-thin, and their central mission (to save a friend stranded in midtown) doesn’t resonate, but so what? Moviegoers remember Godzilla, not the people he stepped on.
