Mean Creek - Harsh, Harrowing, Truthful
I've seen Mean Creek twice now, and it improves with a second viewing. It's much more complex, truthful, and intriguing than I thought on the first go round.Read more
"Just Right."
Her blog entries are rare, but Jessica Poundstone's entries at Utopia Parkway are usually gems that I can't wait to share with others. Today's is no exception:
In a story on a new planet European astronomers discovered…
"However, there is the tantalising question as to whether it lies within the "Goldilocks Zone" -- a distance from its star that is not too hot, not too cold, just right."
Meanwhile, my friend and co-worker Margaret Smith, author of Holy Struggle (a profound work of poetry and biography on the life of Gerard Manley Hopkins), noted this poorly-worded headline in today's New York Times:
Abuses at Prison Tied to Officers in Intelligence
And she adds:
"…since the prisoners were often the ones tied up."
We Don't Live Here Anymore - A Powerful Downer
Director John Curran’s We Don’t Live Here Anymore is a hard-hitting, raw, Wages-of-Sin tale, powerfully acted by a first-rate cast, featuring Mark Ruffalo (Collateral), Laura Dern (Jurassic Park), Naomi Watts (Mulholland Drive), and Peter Krause (TV’s Six Feet Under). The story, which formed through the union of two short stories by Andre Dubus, shows us in gory detail a very simple lesson: If you're married and have kids, it's a really bad idea to sleep with your best friend's spouse.For some viewers, the angst, ugly behavior, deceit, foul language, and explicit sexuality will be too caustic, offensive, and unpleasant.
But it is important to note that, while movies often glorify adultery and sexual misbehavior in the name of a “seize-the-day” morality, here is one of those rare "adultery films," like The Ice Storm and Lantana, that tells it like it is. Like a doctor cutting into a body to expose the revolting truth of a tumor, Curran’s film shows us the stomach-turning truth about infidelity and what it does to marriages and families. The performances suggest that the actors really know the territory (although we certainly hope, for their sake, that they don’t). For their achievement, the filmmakers, the storyteller, and the cast—especially Ruffalo—deserve praise.
There are a few intriguing metaphors glimmering here and there, like the dialogue between two of the children about how some people believe we came from apes and others believe we came from Adam and Eve. Sure enough, the adults are struggling to decide whether to behave like animals or like the sons and daughters of God. But, unfortunately, while the film is both true in its storytelling and excellent in its craftsmanship, it’s just not terribly interesting. The Ice Storm managed to be dramatic, funny, unpredictable, and full of insightful cultural commentary. Lantana was a compelling drama, a complex psychological examination of good and bad marriages, and an intriguing murder mystery as well. We Don’t Live Here Anymore doesn’t amount to much more than a series of violent, snarling arguments and furrowed-brow anxiety. It’s too bad.
Memoirs of a Geisha Gets a Dream-Team Cast
Steven Spielberg has given up on directing an adaptation of the exquisite bestseller Memoirs of a Geisha, now that he's busy with what is reportedly the most expensive film in history ... War of the Worlds.
But the movie's moving forward anyway, and now Rob Marshall (Chicago) is in charge. That probably means it'll be colorful, but does Marshall have the subtlety and poetry necessary to make this anything other than a broad-stroke, commerical opera? (No, I don't mean that literally... it's not going to be a musical.)
Fortunately, the cast looks like a dream come true.Read more
Decent Films is Angry with Benji!
What new "family movie" movie offers a caution to viewers because of "a depiction of an abusive household including references to wife beating and child abuse; depiction of cruelty to animals..."?Read more
Trailer of the Moment: Wes Anderson's Bill Murray film
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou is the strangest title of the year.
It also has one of the most promising trailers.Read more
Whoever You're Voting for... Will Ferrell is a Funny Man
And here he is, reprising one of his greatest roles, as our Commander-in-Chief, with a special message for all Americans.
My Chat with the Chairman of the NEA
In the new issue of Response, you'll find an article about, and an interview with, the Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, Dana Gioia. (There are two separate links on that page, so check out both of them.)
Plus, this issue includes my commentary on films about cloning...Read more
Check out www.fritzphoto.com/art.html
One of my favorite photographers has just posted some of his art online.Read more