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This year's Cannes Film Festival winners included Winter Sleep (Best Film), Bennett Miller (Best Director), Julianne Moore (Best Actress) and Timothy Spall (Best Actor). Here's a look back at some of the films that have previously been awarded the prestigious Palme d'or. Black Orpheus—1959 The Leopard—1963 Paris, Texas—1984 Blowup—1967 The Conversation—1974 Pulp Fiction—1994 Taste of Cherry—1997 Missing—1982 The White Ribbon—2009 Taxi Driver—1976
Jim Jarmusch's films are not for everyone. They are, however, incredibly influential and important in the history of American cinema. Slowly paced with quirky characters, his droll, often minimalist films explore the ironic and humanistic with equal attention. His films feel very American (the America on the margins that is) while at the same time, they are populated with Italian cabdrivers (Night on Earth), teenage Japanese tourists obsessed with early rock and roll (Mystery Train), and Hungarian immigrants (Stranger Than Paradise). His most accessible and mainstream movie to date is Broken Flowers, due in large part because of Bill Murray's great performance as a romantically failed, wealthy introvert who wears retro sweat suits while sitting in the dark (during the day), watching television. It's only when he receives a mysterious letter from one of his ex-girlfriends, suggesting that he has a son he never knew about, does he set out on a personal journey toward…well, maybe nothing and maybe everything. The moments within a journey are what fascinate Jarmusch about the human condition rather than a tightly sewn conclusion to a story. His cult classics Down by Law and Stranger Than Paradise cemented his reputation as an indie sweetheart with a wry sensibility and skill for reimagining genre and form by the early 1990's. The release of his newest film (Only Lovers Left Alive) will once again shine the light on one of America's most idiosyncratic, independent filmmakers.
Most of us prefer sound with our visual imagery when it comes to movie watching. However, if you're looking to challenge yourself to experience visual poetry and storytelling in new ways without the element of music or dialogue, here's a quick introductory sampler of well-regarded works. The Artist Vampyr Battleship Potemkin People on Sunday The General The Dictator Le Quattro Volte (sound, but no dialogue)The Passion of Joan of Arc City Lights Metropolis Sunrise
I first saw Annie Hall in 1977 when it first came out in theaters. I was on a date with my now wife, who was living in Basel Switzerland at the time. The movie audio was in German and I had to read the English subtitles. I thought maybe that attributed to my not understanding or not generally getting this movie. Annie Hall won the 1977 Academy Award for Best Picture and was a turning point for Woody Allen. So when KPL got this movie in on DVD I thought I would view it again. The movie is about Alvy Singer (Woody Allen) and his relationship with Annie Hall (hence the title of the movie) (Diane Keaton). It delves into Alvy and Annie's thoughts, feelings, dealings with life or in Alvy's case his fascination with death. Alvy is Jewish and lives in New York city and is a comedian twice divorced. Annie is undeveloped. Through her relationship with Alvy she grows, goes to community college, reads, sees a therapist and sings on stage. In typical Woody Allen style throughout the movie we see flash backs to other relationships, we see present day Alvy in past day parent's house under the roller coaster. The part I like is when in the middle of a scene he starts a narration with us the viewer through the camera or he does a scene in a scene. For example while in line to see a movie the guy behind him complains about a director, Alvy does not want to hear this and thinks the man does not know what he is talking about. Then Alvy talks to the camera telling us that the man does not know what he is talking about, the man steps into the camera and tells us he teaches film at Columbia. Alvy then pulls the actual Director out from behind a screen and has him argue with the man. Then Alvy comes back to talking to us through the camera and says don't you wish life was like this. Annie Hall is deemed a classic, I think I got more out of it this time around, mostly because there now is an internet and I read up on all the reasons this is supposed to be a good movie. If I had only just watched it again I think I would still leave shaking my heard. Only this time I would not be out some major dollars (actually they were Swiss Francs, this was way before the Euro). Getting the DVD for free from KPL is a good deal. BTW after the movie we got a drink at the plaza and they had orange plastic giraffes in them as stirring sticks. I still have the plastic giraffe and I still have the date (now wife) and I still do not understand Annie Hall.
In case you needed one last, post-Oscars list to use for upcoming checkout's. According to a survey of the editors and contributors of Film Comment magazine, these are the Top 20 films of 2013. Some have been released on DVD and others have yet to hit the shelves.
What happens when one of the staff persons charged with helping young people overcome trauma, neglect and abuse at an at-risk juvenile home is quietly suffering from her own painful past? This is the question at the center of this wonderful, little film propelled by strong acting performances and a deft touch at balancing grim subject matter with moments of levity and humor. Grace, played by a fantastic Brie Larson, and her devoted boyfriend Mason work together to help kids manage their feelings and cope with the cards they've been dealt. But her strength of character and compassionate heart alone are of little use when it comes to facing her own feelings of fear, anxiety and anger. Short Term 12 proves again that a film's success is in no way related to the number of celebrity actors, use of CGI or amount of super hero characters. Sometimes, going small produces large rewards.
Written and directed by actress Lake Bell, In a World… is a charming and well-structured comedy with the obscure, yet cutthroat world of Hollywood movie voice-over as a backdrop. Bell portrays a blithely underachieving vocal coach living in the substantially self-important shadow of her "king of the epic trailer voice-over" father played by the great Fred Melamed. In a World… is funny, smart, social satire that doesn't veer into pretentiousness and marks the debut of Bell as a writer/director to watch in the future.
Sandra Bullock may have taken on deadly space debris in Best Picture contender Gravity, but it'll likely be Cate Blanchett that destroys her chances at winning a second Oscar come Sunday, March 2nd. That's right, the 86th Academy Awards ceremony is less than two weeks away, which mean now's the time to catch up on all those critically-acclaimed movies you've been meaning to watch. Thankfully, the Kalamazoo Public Library is here to help with this list of all the Oscar-nominated films that you can check out from us right now:
Several more Oscar contenders will be available on DVD or Blu-ray very soon:
These Oscar contenders will be available in March, and you can place a hold on them right now:
Keep an eye out for the rest of the nominees, which are sure to follow. In the meantime, come on down to KPL and start prepping for Oscar night!
Reader's Advisory is a term that librarians use to describe the act of linking similar titles together so that readers are exposed to authors and titles that possess comparable thematic or stylistic qualities. This is the first installment of a film version of that kind of process of suggestion. It's not scientifically based and so absorb these lists with a grain of salt. • Liked Goodfellas, try Miller's Crossing • Liked Charulata, try Everlasting Moments • Liked The Truman Show, try Real Life • Liked Drive, try Taxi Driver • Liked Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, try Petulia • Liked Last Year at Marienbad, try Memento • Liked The Ice Storm, try Ordinary People • Liked Groundhog Day, try Being There • Liked Take Shelter, try Repulsion • Liked Il Postino, try Amelie • Liked E.T, try Super 8 • Liked Doubt, try The Silence • Liked Mad Men (series), try The Hour (series) • Liked Paper Moon, try The Last Picture Show • Liked Harold and Maude, try Delicacy • Liked Tinker Tailor, Soldier Spy, try The Spy Who Came in from the Cold • Liked Goon, try Slapshot • Liked Harry and Tonto, try Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore • Liked The Newsroom (series), try Sports Night (series) • Liked Platoon, try The Thin Red Line • Liked Leaving Las Vegas, try Taste of Cherry • Liked Dead Man Walking, try Into the Abyss: a tale of death, a tale of life • Liked There Will Be Blood, try Citizen Kane • The Bridge Over River Kwai, try Force 10 from Navarone • Liked Blue Valentine, try A Woman Under the Influence
Le Havre is a wonderful film that I missed seeing when it first showed at WMU's Little Theater several years ago. Named for a provincial city on the northern, French coast, the film is one of Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki's most warmhearted and charming. Known for his less is more approach to film making, his works tend to give birth to zany, working class characters whose expressions of both joy and futility come off as droll and darkly peculiar (fans of Wes Anderson and Jim Jarmusch will appreciate the brand of humor). Le Havre is a simple story: an elderly shoe shiner stumbles into a plot to hide a young, African boy from the authorities who seek his deportation. Ex "bohemian" Marcel Marx has a difficult enough time as it is in dealing with his critically ill wife. His newest project, one that he had not expected, is to safeguard with the help of his fellow townspeople, a young refuge named Idrissa, who is seeking to travel to London. With the authorities hot on his trail, Marcel keeps ahead of the fuzz with just enough assistance from Le Havre's band of bartenders, rock musicians, and an unlikely detective. It's a beautiful fantasy as much as it is a political fable about community and humanity.
The Criterion Collection has a wonderful page on their website that catalogs the 10 favorite Criterion releases from a wide assortment of actors, musicians, directors, writers and other arty types. I always find these selections a good place to start my search for the unseen and unknown. If I were asked to list my ten favorite films from their collection, I'd start with the following: 1. Harold and Maude 2. Hiroshima Mon Amour 3. Au Hasard Balthazar 4. The 400 Blows 5. The Royal Tenenbaums 6. Badlands 7. The Passion of Joan of Arc 8. Late Spring 9. Pierrot Le Fou 10. In the Mood for Love
Whether or not you count yourself among the many that study and delight in the works of Shakespeare, you might find that Joss Whedon's recent interpretation of Much Ado about Nothing is well worth a watch. While the cast speaks in Shakespearean tongue, Whedon and his cast convincingly tell this story as a modern one still worth our attention. The film is beautifully shot in black and white. The contemporary setting (Whedon's family home) and the choice of real-life clothing rather than period costuming support a phenomenal cast who deliver the lines in the cadences of contemporary speech, making the story feel fresh, the plot devices less archaic. I was particularly riveted by Amy Acker's portrayal of the smart, sharp-tongued Beatrice, who is moved to moral outrage at her cousin Hero's undeserved disgrace at the wedding altar, displaying what would have been thought of in Shakespearean times as more "manliness" than any of the men who stood by instead of defending Hero's honor. Her delivery of the famous "O that I were a man" speech gave me chills as she exclaims her frustration at her powerlessness as a woman of her time and her fury that she "cannot be a man with wishing, therefore I will die a woman with grieving." Her performance is done with such conviction, she seems anything but powerless; if anything, she seems heroic (no word play intended). Ultimately, of course, Beatrice embraces the man she'd so adamantly mocked before, having challenged him to become a man worthy of her. While the story is rife with drama, deceit, and what passes for romance, there's plenty of physical humor, with Benedick rolling in the grass outside the windows and Beatrice hiding in the kitchen to overhear conversations undetected, and comedic relief in the delightfully self-important security guards: bumbling tough guys whose swagger is intentionally and plainly laughable. Thanks to one director's interpretation and a talented cast, I've never enjoyed a Shakespearean tale as much as I did this movie. Perhaps you will, too.
One of the things I love about Kalamazoo is the Kalamazoo Film Society. Every month for the past 25 years, this great organization has brought a film to Kalamazoo that would otherwise not have been shown locally. The Society recently celebrated its 25th anniversary with two classic films: Federico Fellini's Amarcord, and Ingmar Bergman's Wild strawberries. Those screenings, earlier this month, were the last at the KFS's long-time home, WMU's Little Theatre. Due to the switch to digital projection, and the lack of the necessary equipment at the Little Theatre, the KFS has entered into a partnership with the Alamo Drafthouse, and will continue bringing great movies to Kalamazoo.
One of the things I love about the Kalamazoo Public Library is that we seem to get everything the KFS shows, allowing me to catch up on anything I missed on the big screen. If you haven't seen every single movie they've brought to town over the years, you can find a list of what they've shown that we've got, which at 196 items as of this writing, covers over 16 years.
As rabid a film watcher as I am, time restrictions will forever thwart my capacity to plow through KPL's stellar movie collection but here is an abbreviated list of some of my favorite films from KPL's collection, watched over the past year. While we add new releases each week, don't forget about the diversified depth of our collection. We can't purchase every movie that is requested or inquired about but we can work toward the goal of having most titles for most of our patrons, most of the time. Upstream Color: With the exception of the increasingly abstract, fragmented and non-linear narratives of Terrence Malick, there have been few notable American films over the past decade or so that have attempted to remake the kind of Eurocentric, anti-classical/realist/romantic films of the 1960's and 70's (think: Godard, Bresson, Tarr, Tarkovsky, Resnais, Warhol, Antonioni). With Upstream Color, a sort of Hiroshima Mon Amour for our contemporary times, one hopes that young filmmakers will continue to take the value of abstraction seriously, reimagining it in new and thoughtful ways. Hedwig and the Angry Inch: A film that came out (pun intended) way ahead of its time. It's kind of an absurdist musical that is in-your-face bonkers, but bonkers in the most vital, transgressive and beautifully rebellious way. A postmodern Hair. Young Adult: Charlize Theron gives a great performance as an unraveled mess of a person that attempts to transition from a life of boredom and narcissism toward a more complete, self-aware state where the adjective 'young' can finally wither away. Sullivan's Travels: I checked this film out because the great American director Preston Sturges' name kept popping up in literature on director/writer Wes Anderson (a favorite of mine). This well-written and acted screwball comedy hits the mark and lives up to its acclaim as one of the 1940's best films. My Dinner with Andre: A film like few others--this conventions-busting mixture of fiction and nonfiction, storytelling and improvised riffing will either bore you into slumber or thrill you with its originality. We almost forget, due to the strong writing, that the great French autuer Louis Malle was its director. Insignificance: I'm still not sure I 'get' this peculiar film but it was certainly compelling, the way in which a film can unfold as both an irritant and a puzzling enigma. Hiroshima Mon Amour: Before I saw this Alain Resnais masterpiece about memory, love and loss, I considered Harold and Maude my favorite film. Now it's number two. 12 Angry Men: Watch this fictional, court room drama and then the documentary The Central Park Five. The very notion of facts, evidence, justice and human objectivity are brilliantly rendered as a hollow collection of outdated concepts with tragic application. Hunger: Not to be mistaken with Steve McQueen's first film about the imprisonment of IRA soldiers of the same name but rather the nimble and haunting adaptation of the classic, existential novella by Danish writer Knut Hamsun. Summer with Monika: Arguably, my favorite film of Bergman's but nowhere near his best. That distinction belongs to his magnum opus Scenes from a Marriage, a film that should only be approached by the single and the happily married couple. Rules of the Game: My goal for movie watching this year was to view a handful of those classics considered important to the historical development of the art form according to the Sight and Sound Magazine's list of 250 Greatest Films; a list created every ten years by an esteemed cadre of critics. Renoir's masterpiece (rated at No. 4) is there for a reason and its influence can be seen in almost every film made since 1939 that skewers the vacuity of the rich and clueless. La Jetee/Sans Soleil: Made by maverick film essayist Chris Marker, these two films are quite distinct from one another in both content and style. Both represent the best in avant-garde, envelope-pushing cinema that emerged parallel with the various manifestations of the European New Wave movement. Picnic at Hanging Rock: This 70's cult classic by Peter Weir still holds up as a truly original film that tackles the subject of loss, regret and repressed longing, all of which are tied to a mystery that leaves an Australian women's school in shock and confusion. Other notable films: L' Avventura, Stroszek, Bringing Up Baby, Amarcord, The Killing, Neighboring Sounds, Damnation, The Lives of Others, Magnificent Ambersons, Harvey, Pat and Mike, The Third Man, Ali: Fear Eats the Soul, The Searchers, Elevator to the Gallows, As I Lay Dying, Cleo from 5 to 7, Frances Ha, The Silence, Winter Light, Cries and Whispers, Blast of Silence, Through a Glass Darkly, Argo, Shallow Grave, Band of Outsiders, Fanny and Alexander, Mud, Harry and Tonto, Chasing Ice, and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.
The great movie directors have always shown an interest in exploring the subject of growing up and the themes of adolescent awakening, rites of passage and the sometimes complex depiction of individuals straddling both adulthood and childhood. As many different kinds of filmmakers as there are, so to have these kinds of movies been varied, both in terms of genre, point of view and style. Childhood it would appear from some of the beloved films that have been inspired by the subject, is messy, complicated and rendered as a darn right miserable experience. Youth's opposite condition, the aging process and growing old has also been explored with both tenderness and horror. Sometimes depicted with gritty realism, other times with romantic sentimentality, many of these films examine the way that the elderly either flourish by growing open to new and different ideas about what it means to live or in some cases, investigate the many difficulties that the elderly are confronted with. Here is a brief list of some of the great films that tackle the subject of both youth and the elderly with intelligence, artfulness and humanity. Aging Harry and Tonto Harold and Maude Umberto D Away from Her Amour Nobody's Fool On Golden Pond Ikiru Tokyo Story The Up Series The Straight Story YouthMurmur of the Heart My Life as a Dog Forbidden Games Mon Oncle Antoine Stand by Me Kid with a Bike Spirit of the Beehive The Ice Storm Good Morning Bicycle Thieves George Washington 400 Blows Ratcatcher Moonlight Kingdom Ivan's Childhood Fish Tank Hoop Dreams Rushmore
Sleepwalk with me is about a comedian who has REM disorder disease. Matt is a comedian who is currently working as a bartender and Abby is his girlfriend. They go to his sister's engagement party and his parents and friends are putting pressure on him to get married. His sister had been seeing her guy for only two and half hears while Matt has been with Abby for eight years His girlfriend is great, can sing, people love her. I think one of the telling lines is when Matt tells his sister everyone thinks Abby is amazing; mom and dad think she is amazing, our friends think she is amazing. I think everyone thinks the best thing about my life is my girlfriend. Matt is not ready for marriage and the pressure causes him to sleepwalk. At his parent's house during a sleep walking episode he thinks the hamper is a jackal and he is kicking it. Matt gets an agent and she sends him on some comedy gigs. They are scattered about the east coast and involve a lot of driving and time away from home. He becomes exhausted and the sleep walking episodes get worse. His comedy, however, gets better. At one comedy club a veteran comedian talks with him off stage and Matt makes a joke about marriage. The veteran says that's funny you should use it in your show. Matt's comedy gets funnier as he jokes with the audience about marriage, making fun of it. One night Abby comes home at 4 am very drunk and starts to pack a suitcase, Matt wants her to stay and agrees to get married in the summer. As we watch Abby plan for the wedding and Matt touring and doing his comedy act we see his sleepwalking progress until finally he thinks a missile is coming at him (signifying the upcoming wedding) and he jumps out of a second story window. This is a deadpan humor type of story; the most humorous parts are his sleepwalking dreams. It's a real type of story, real issues, real struggles, real relationship problems, with comedy sprinkled in especially in the sleepwalking dreams.
After watching the Academy Award winning film (Best Foreign Language Film) Amour, a film of tremendous emotional intensity and tenderness, I needed to view a film that took me away into a fantasy world comprised of silly hijinks, screwball comedy and that starred classic Hollywood actors. I found that film in the classic 1938 comedy, Bringing Up Baby, a hilarious romp of absurdity and folly that was the perfect antithesis to Amour's touching but grim story of the final weeks of an elderly couple's marriage. Both pictures represent the best and breadth of the library's film collection, one that has a little bit of everything.
Wiener Dog Nationals is a cute children movie. We have a family with a mother who has died recently but not that recent, like 2 years ago. So we have a father raising 3 children; one is 18 and the other 2 are like boy age 8 and girl age 6. The boy discovers a picture of his mother as a child with a wiener dog (dachshund) and she used to race the dog and win trophies. Nowhere in this movie do we hear anyone say dachshund it is always Wiener dog, just like the title of the movie. For his birthday he wishes for a wiener dog. He names it Shelly because he got it from a shelter. He and his sister are in a fast food place and there is a girl signing up people for the Wiener dog races, what are the odds. Morgan Fairchild is a rich lady who plays dirty tricks to try and eliminate Shelly from competing in the race. She has won for the past 2 years. The movie is your typical child movie, Morgan Fairchild is shown doing nasty things and being rude so you hate her. The boy with the dog is nice and friendly with the other contestants especially a dog called handshake who can do one trick, bet you can't guess what it is, yep Shake Hands. His owner is a girl of about 8 same age as the boy. The dad meets and falls in love with the girl (Alicia Witt) who was signing up people for the race. Shelly wins Nationals. Happiness reigns for all in the end. Two things that did bug me about this movie, when cleaning up from the birthday, the dad tosses the left over cake into a garbage bag. Who does that, you keep the cake and have more of it later. The second was more of a continuity issue. Shelly hurts her paw. They show her raising her right front paw as if it is hurt but they bandage the right rear paw. I even rewound to make sure I saw the correct paw. But hey, I wasn't watching this for accuracy just for a good time. It's cute, if you have children or just like these movies Check it out at KPL.
Famously shy and reclusive writer/director Terrence Malick burst into the spotlight with his extraordinary debut Badlands (1973), a classic of American filmmaking starring a young Sissy Spacek and Martin Sheen. The library has recently picked up the expanded and refurbished Criterion Collection edition which features recollections from the two actors and the art director. Fans of Malick's impressionistic and painterly films (The Thin Red Line, Tree of Life, Days of Heaven, The New World) will certainly want to see this version in all of its restored vibrancy. After watching this amazing film, loosely based on the Charles Starkweather murders of the late 1950's, I've attempted to come up with a short list of significant directorial debut films that we currently have in our collection. Reservoir Dogs Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf The Night of the Hunter Citizen Kane Easy Rider George Washington American Beauty A Bout De Souffle (Breathless) Bottle Rocket Knife in the Water Killer of SheepThe 400 Blows
The Trouble with the Curve is about an aging Atlanta Braves baseball scout, Clint Eastwood, who uses his experience and gut to pick a player vs. the modern way with computers. Clint Eastwood is a cantankerous man who loves baseball, misses his dead wife and has a love but leave me alone relationship with his daughter, Amy Adams. They convey all this to us in the first few minutes, by showing Clint Eastwood home alone, stumbling into a coffee table and kicking it out of the way and, my favorite, getting a can of spam and eating directly out of the can. (Side note, shortly after seeing this I bought a can of spam. I did not eat it directly out of the can mainly, because my wife is still alive and would not let me, but I did dump it out on to a plate and cut off a hunk and ate it raw, after first verifying that it is fully cooked.)
Philip is one of the new upcoming modern computer wise scouts with ambition and is trying to push Clint Eastwood out of the way. The movie centers around the scouting of a likely looking baseball player in North Carolina; do the Braves sign him, do the Red Socks, is he a good pick? OK, so now let's add in some other things. Clint Eastwood is losing is eyesight, Amy Adams is his lawyer daughter and lets spice it up, Justin Timberlake is a scout for the Red Socks and likes Amy Adams.
You do not have to know about baseball to like this movie but if you do it probably enhances it for you. Amy Adams and Justin Timberlake have drinking contest about past players and infamous plays. Personally, I did not know who or what they were talking about but still enjoyed their competition, drink if you do not know. I wasn't drinking Justin and Amy were.
The movie gets its name from a type of pitch, The Curve, they also call it the change up unless I got that confused with one of those other pitches. Amy Adams and Clint Eastwood see Bo Gentry as having a major flaw in that he cannot hit a curve ball, hence the title of the movie. They talk about Bo hitching and his hand drifting. I have no idea what that means but you do not have to, Clint Eastwood knows and it is this personal seeing with his own eyes, hearing the clink of the bat that makes him a better scout than the computer. There was one part of the movie that I can relate to on a personal level, there is a batter who is up just before Bo Gentry and Gentry says get a hit so he, Gentry, can get up to hit. This poor little scrawny, glasses wearing guy is now praying to God to get him on base. He gets hit with the ball and gets to walk to his base. On his way he is saying to God, perhaps you misinterpreted my request. This part of the movie, while not in any way the major thrust of the movie, hit home for me. How many times was I up to bat and said the same prayer and sadly it was in Softball (which for those who do not know, is a bigger ball and as its name implies softer). You rarely get to take your base for getting hit by a softball. My prayer was broader than this guy's, he wanted to get on base thus preserving Gentry's ups. My prayer was just let me hit it, I did not care where it went just let me hit it.
Clint Eastwood is struggling to hang on to being useful, more than that, to being independent. He is getting older, computers are encroaching in on him, his eyesight is failing. Amy Adams sacrifices her promotion, her boyfriend, in order to be with her dad and help him. Ok so did you get the gist of this movie, it involves baseball but it is more than a movie about baseball, it is a movie about family love, old age, scum who try to push you out of the way and about what is really important in life. And hey if that is not enough for you, then watch Justin Timberlake and Amy Adams both are cute as a button.
Have you ever thought what it would be like to be just a Head. You could not move your arms of your legs. The Intouchables is a story about such a man and his caregiver. Philippe is a French aristocrat who has a great life until his wife gets a disease and dies and Philippe who was always into high adventure, goes paragliding and crashes. He crushed his 3rd and 4th vertebrae and is now a quadriplegic. The movie is about the relationship of Philippe and Driss. Philippe is interviewing numerous caregivers, they all have great credentials and PHDs. Driss is applying because in order to draw is benefit (unemployment check) he need to show he is actively looking for a job, he has no real desire to have this job. He talks to Philippe in an off hand manner, "don't get up". Philippe likes him because he doesn't treat Philippe as an invalid. Driss is offered and takes the job. We are given glimpses into what Philippe has to do every day. Massages for the arms and legs, strapped in a chair so he doesn't fall out, turning pages with a stick in his mouth. Driss asks him if he ever thought of just shooting himself. Philippe says yes but I cannot move my arms or legs so I am stuck. Luckily for Philippe he is rich. He says the Doctors can keep him alive until he is 70. Philippe introduces Driss to the arts, and music, Bach etc. Driss also shows Philippe what he considers good music Earth, Wind and Fire. Driss is a kid from the streets. He introduces Philippe to smoking marijuana to help with the pain. When Philippe has to travel they go the van and Driss says no way is he loading Philippe in the back of the van like a horse, he puts him in the front seat of a muscle car and roars down the road. This is a story of a developing friendship. This movie is foreign and in French so if you do not understand French, you could take a crash course on our Rocket Language lessons, free if you have a library card or for this you could turn on the subtitles. The thing that really touched me is that this is a true story. At the end of the movie they show the people that this movie was based on.
When I started watching John Dies at the End I knew it was science fiction and that it was different. I wasn't really ready for how different it was. It was a real Mind Tripper. And even though I had talked about this movie with our resident movie expert at KPL, Dan, I was not ready for the girl to turn into a bunch of snakes. Dan did not forewarn me about that and he knows I have a phobia about snakes. I was scurrying to grab the remote control and fast forward not carrying what dialog I missed. If you are not bothered by snakes this movie has it fair share of bugs and other disgusting looking creatures. John and some others are enticed by a drug called Soy Sauce which we find is linked to an alternate reality's world attempt to take over our world. Dave is John's best friend and it is up to the two of them to stop the invasion. Time travel is involved, Dave is constantly getting calls from future John. The movie has a lot of action, then seems to stop for dialog period where Dave is talking to a reporter or the police or John on the phone then it jumps back into action and people explode or have their head blown off by a shotgun and then set on fire and they may or may not die. I would say that Dave and John are pretty laid back dudes, not much frazzles them. When pieces of meat from the freezer start coming together to form a meat monster they take it in stride, tell it to hang on a second while they make a phone call. They then hand the phone to the monster who takes it and he listens and then falls all apart, end of monster. This is a movie for adults not children and it is for adults who are willing to just be entertained and not try to point out the flaws in the time travel and are ok with someone finding their cut off head, putting it back on and fastening it with fishing line then looking for the guy who cut off his head.
I love Morgan Freeman. He has a way of talking. Like when he is teaching the dog to fetch a ball. Morgan Freeman throws it and the dog just lays there. He says "Maybe it's the word Fetch that doesn't resonant perhaps retrieve will stimulate some long dormant instinct" or when he is invited to a seven year olds party he says "I greatly appreciate being included in your celebratory plans and I will be sure to mark that special day on my calendar." In this movie, The Magic of Belle Isle, Monte Wildhorn (Morgan Freeman) is a writer of western novels whose wife died seven years ago and with her passing he gave up writing. We see him arrive at the island brought there by his nephew. Monte is in a wheel chair a bit cantankerous and drinking heavily. He moves in next door to Charlotte O'Neil (Virginia Madsen) and her three daughters. The middle daughter, Finnegan asks Monte to teach her how to use her imagination. Monte becomes her mentor. As time passes, Monte develops a fondness for the O'Neils and they of him. The plot is predicable but who cares, you get a warm feeling of happiness from this movie and that's all that matters. Monte does write some a story or two, but not a western. It's about an elephant, the youngest girl loves elephants. Through the story of the elephant Monte lets Charlotte know that he likes her and for those of us too dense to figure it out Charlotte while reading the story says I think he likes me. Monte is invited over for dinner and Charlotte plays the piano. Monte comments that for playing like that he would leave his windows open. Later in the movie when Luke and Joe are trying to buy the rights to the books to make a movie we hear piano playing. Monte tells Luke and Joe that the music is for him and it's personal so they have to go. Monte lies in bed listening to the music and dreams of sipping wine with Charlotte and dancing by moonlight. He is awakened by the dog licking his face. I don't think it will spoil anything to let you know that the dog eventually does fetch a ball. They show that very comically. Monte tosses the ball and the dog heads in the exact opposite direction. Monte says "I admire consistency" then the dog shows up with the ball. This could be a Hallmark movie of the week. I loved it mostly because of Morgan Freeman and his portrayal of Monte Wildhorn. Give it a watch some time when you want a warm fuzzy.
It's pretty easy to argue that movie expert Roger Ebert was America's First Film Critic, in the sense that he was the country's most well-known and respected reviewer of cinema. Ebert passed away yesterday from complications due to cancer. Ebert and the late Gene Siskel introduced millions of Americans to thoughtful conversations about both commercial and artistic-oriented films with their Saturday afternoon television show that aired from the mid 1980's until Siskel's death in 1999. Ebert's brilliant reviews, many of which are collected in numerous books, are an excellent starting point for the novice fan of film to introduce themselves to the treasure trove of great movies. Ebert was known for his superb prose, much of which eschewed jargon and obtuse forms of critical theory. He also had a keen ability to criticize films he found intellectually stupefying or devoid of purpose with a biting sense of humor, some of which can be found below.
"The Last Airbender is an agonizing experience in every category I can think of and others still waiting to be invented. The laws of chance suggest that something should have gone right. Not here. It puts a nail in the coffin of low-rent 3D, but it will need a lot more coffins than that."
"Battlefield Earth is like taking a bus trip with someone who has needed a bath for a long time. It's not merely bad; it's unpleasant in a hostile way."
"Dice Rules is one of the most appalling movies I have ever seen. It could not be more damaging to the career of Andrew Dice Clay if it had been made as a documentary by someone who hated him. The fact that Clay apparently thinks this movie is worth seeing is revealing and sad, indicating that he not only lacks a sense of humor, but also ordinary human decency."
"Saving Silverman is so bad in so many different ways that perhaps you should see it, as an example of the lowest slopes of the bell-shaped curve. This is the kind of movie that gives even its defenders fits of desperation. Consider my friend James Berardinelli, the best of the Web-based critics. No doubt 10 days of oxygen deprivation at the Sundance Film Festival helped inspire his three-star review, in which he reports optimistically, 'Saving Silverman has its share of pratfalls and slapstick moments, but there's almost no flatulence.' Here's a critical rule of thumb: You know you're in trouble when you're reduced to praising a movie for its absence of fart jokes, and have to add 'almost.'"
And one of his most famous disses concerns Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen. It "is a horrible experience of unbearable length, briefly punctuated by three or four amusing moments. One of these involves a dog-like robot humping the leg of the heroine. Such are the meager joys. If you want to save yourself the ticket price, go into the kitchen, cue up a male choir singing the music of hell, and get a kid to start banging pots and pans together. Then close your eyes and use your imagination."
I learned a few things from the movie Trooper and the Legend of the Golden Key. If you are an 8 year old boy and get moved to a new town, that is a good time to bamboozle your parents into getting a dog and if they say yes to one dog then they will for sure allow you a second dog. I also learned that if you have a maniacal evil plan then you should laugh about it with your partner in a Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde sort of way. One more thing I learned, if you want to show your audience that your character is a bad dude, have him take candy from a baby. Trooper is a bloodhound and he narrates the story. Due to budget cuts, by the bad guy of course, Trooper can no longer be a police dog. Luckily a boy has just moved into town and is able to have his family adopt the dog. The evil bad guy is trying to shut down the local bookstore so he can put in an oil well that will make him rich. He tells the bookstore owner that she owes back taxes for 25 years and has to come up with a million dollars. The boy learns of this and also hears about a recently deceased man who may have left a treasure in his house. Trooper and the boy discover the Legend of the Golden Key which is worth a million dollars (coincidence?). This was a nice little just watch the movie and don't worry about the facts. I was a bit fixated that the book store owner just accepted that she owed a million dollars. This is after all, a children's movie.
Federico Fellini's most well-known film and a classic of Italian cinema, 8 and 1/2 continues to stand-up as a trailblazing film that introduced viewers in 1963 to an overly self-conscious form of storytelling that mixes fiction, memoir and dreamy surrealism together as a prophetic statement about the nature of celebrity, the mass media and the pressure to create art even when uninspired. Self-referential, wildly imaginative and irreverent, this classic film points the finger at the film industry and increasingly aggressive media while humorously mocking the hollowness of fame. Poking fun at both himself and his critics (both Catholics and Communists), Fellini delights in highlighting the absurdity and emotional alienation of those forced into positions of creating successful commerce while their personal life grows increasingly dysfunctional. See a trailer here.
Normally when the character of Veronica Mars calls for backup, she's summoning Backup, the intimidating canine that accompanies her when she's heading into a dangerous situation—which, as a sharp-witted, young-adult private investigator in the fictional town of Neptune, California, she often is. But last week, Mars called for backup from a different source: fans of the much-loved, short-lived eponymous television program on which she originated. On April 13th, Veronica Mars the television show—which went off the air in 2007 after a mere three seasons—made headlines when its creator, Rob Thomas (no, not that one), and star, Kristen Bell, launched a Kickstarter project that would fund a feature film, giving new life to a cult classic and furthering the adventures of one of TV's most beloved heroines.
For those of you unfamiliar with Kickstarter, it's a website where motivated folks can announce projects for which they want to raise money—films, music albums, business ventures, etc.—and the general public can contribute donations, usually for some sort of tiered reward. Creators set financial goals and have a limited amount of time (30 or 60 days) to reach them. If they hit their mark, they get all the money they've raised to that point; if they fail, they get nothing. The "Veronica Mars Movie Project" set the highest goal in Kickstarter history: they needed to raise two million dollars in 30 days. They did it in 11 hours, becoming the fastest project on the site to hit that amount of money. As of this writing, the project has raised nearly $3.7 million—well over its goal.
If you've seen Veronica Mars, there's a good chance you loved it enough to kick in a few shekels (as I assuredly did). If you haven't watched the show, then now's a good time to jump in head-first! Here's the basic premise: Veronica is a high-school (later, college) student who moonlights as a private investigator for her detective father, Keith. He was once the town sheriff, but was removed from office in disgrace after accusing a local billionaire of killing his own daughter, who was Veronica's best friend. This made both father and daughter unpopular around town. In each episode, Veronica tackles a mystery, while also investigating a season-long crime. Despite the fact that it never caught on with a large audience, VM developed a strong cult following thanks to its loveable characters, strong plots, clever writing, and hilariously quotable dialogue. So check out the DVDs of all three seasons—you won't regret it.
In preparation for St. Patrick's Day, be sure to stop in and check out some of the many films that we own that feature the Emerald Isle. We have biographies, history, travel, documentaries and feature length films that highlight the rich and vibrant culture of Ireland.
The Quiet Man
Rattle and Hum
Beckett on Film
Albert Nobbs
The Guard
The Swell Season
The Boxer
The Wind That Shakes the Barley
My Left Foot
Rick Steves' Ireland & Scotland
A Love Divided
Nothing Personal
The Butcher Boy
Celtic Crossroads
Leap Year
The Commitments
Mary and Max was captivating. It reminded me of the Wallace and Gromit movies. It is a clay animation and makes no effort to make it's people look life like which I think adds to the movie. The humor is odd and you will either love it or not get it. It is a story of a little girl 8 years old in Australia and a 40 year old pen pal in New York City. The little girl, Mary, is lonely and gets picked on at school. She has a birth mark on her forehead the color of Poo. Her pen pal suggests telling the bully that it is the color of chocolate and that when she gets to heaven she will be in charge of the chocolate and he will not get any. The bully upon being told this, cries. Her dad has a job at the Tea factory tying the strings from the tea bag to the label for Earl Grey tea. Mary thinks she would love to mary someone named Earl Grey some day. Her mother cooks with Sherry and as Mary puts it she is wobbly most of the day. When Mary's teacher says Mary needs to smile more, her mother gets out her lipstick and draws a smile on Mary's face. One day at the Post Office she sees a telephone book for New York City, she describes it as a telephone book with a picture of a lady on it with her hand on fire. Mary opens the book and chooses a name at random and writes a letter. The letter was to Max. Max is a nice guy but has a whole host of problems. We find out that he has been in a mental hospital and is subject to anxiety attacks, and has trouble reading people. He has a sketch book he made of people's faces so he can tell by referring to the book if they are happy or mad or sad. We find later that he has Asperger's syndrome. Max likes being an Aspie as he calls it and even has a t-shirt with Aspie on it. Max has no friends but he does have a gold fish, Henry the eighth, which later is Henry the ninth etc. as accidents keep happening to the little gold fish. This is a movie you have to see to appreciate.
Another Oscar season has come to a close, and it was quite a successful one at that. There were very few upsets or surprises, which helped this movie geek dominate his Oscar pool, getting 21 out of 24 correct – a tie for my all-time best. The Academy made up for snubbing director Ben Affleck by awarding Best Picture to the well-deserved Argo. The visually-stunning Life of Pi took home the most of the night with four, including one for director Ang Lee, who managed to turn what many felt was an unfilmable book into a crowd-pleaser. Skyfall became the first James Bond film to win an Oscar since 1965's Thunderball. Lincoln 's Daniel Day-Lewis became the first person ever to win Best Actor three times. And Pixar's Brave just beat out the video-game-themed Wreck-It Ralph for Best Animated Feature, which is ironic considering poor Ralph spends his entire movie trying to win a trophy just so people will love him. You've earned top score from me, Ralph.
If you're behind in your Oscar viewing, a handful of these award-winners are available for home viewing now, right here at the Kalamazoo Public Library:
Several of the Oscar winners are coming soon, and you can place a hold on them now:
Check back for the availability of Silver Linings Playbook, winner of Best Actress (Jennifer Lawrence); Les Misérables, winner of Best Supporting Actress (Anne Hathaway), Makeup & Hairstyling, and Sound Mixing; and Amour, winner of Best Foreign Film. The release dates of these films will probably be announced soon.
So what did you think of the Oscars? What were you glad to see win? Which categories would you have preferred to go differently? What was your favorite film of 2012?
Every wonder what happened to Cliff from Cheers? Well, he is working as a barber in a small village outside of Las Vegas. John Ratzenberger (Cliff) is in a movie called "The Village Barbershop" along with Shelly Cole. His name in this movie is Art and Art is not doing well. His wife, the love of his life, has passed on and now his fellow barber and co-owner has also died. Art is in debt, the landlord want to kick him out as he has not paid his rent. Art advertises for a replacement barber and after seeing an assortment of odd applicants, along comes Gloria. Gloria has recently found herself to be pregnant and her boyfriend just told her he has found someone else and they are getting married. Art does not want to hire a female barber but as she also can do bookkeeping he hires her to do his books, something his partner used to do. Gloria of course wheedles her way into being Art's partner partly by winning him over with her charm and partly by threatening to sue for gender discrimination. The movie is one of those Hallmark type movies. We see Gloria and Art grow on each other, start to care for each other and help each other overcome life's difficulties.
In Richard Linklater's Bernie, a surprise hit released in 2012, Jack Black delivers a dialed down performance worthy of award recognition. Black belts out Gospel standards, dances to show tunes and brings a dramatic depth and sympathy to the role that one rarely finds in his oeuvre of slapstick comedies. Bernie is based on a true crime set in East Texas. Black plays the lovable but quirky Bernie, the assistant funeral director who when not comforting his beloved widows, befriends the town matriarch, a mean spirited woman made of money, played by legend Shirley MacLaine. From there, Bernie's life of piety and service spins out of control when he deviates from his saintly deeds and finds himself confronted with the truth and consequences of his actions.
Jeff Kinney is the author of the very popular Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, there are seven books in the series and Kalamazoo Public Library has all seven! The printed text appears as if it were hand-written and it is combined with comic drawings to keep the attention of even a reluctant reader. Boys and girls, elementary age and teenage, enjoy reading the books.
I watched the movie titled: Diary of a Wimpy Kid and just thinking about it makes me giggle. The movie is directed by Thor Freudenthal. It revolves around Greg and Rowley, two best friends entering their first year of middle school. Greg is played by Zachary Gordon and Rowley is played by Robert Capron. Throughout their sixth grade year Greg and Rowley make several attempts and schemes at "fitting-in" to middle school life. Yes, there are a few moments of fright and, yes, there is some gross stuff, but overall it is clever, goofy, and at times, adorable. The actors do a great job of conveying their individual character including Greg's family which consists of an obnoxious older brother and a younger brother, and a mother and father. We get to know Greg's classmates and teachers and a few bullies. Rowley provides innocence and sincerity to the story along with his catchy phrase: zoo-wee mama! Greg is somewhat of an underdog who keeps persevering throughout, and he deserves a lot of credit for his inventiveness and maturity.
Again, this is a funny movie and I recommend it.
For books, begin at: Diary of a Wimpy Kid; Greg Heffley's Journal (Book 1)
If you enjoy the romantic comedy genre and don't mind English subtitles, the movie Delicacy might be for you. Starring Amelie actress Audrey Tautou, Delicacy is a creatively anodyne yet enjoyable film about tragedy, mourning, and second chances at love. Combining the kind of predictable rom-com tropes with just enough charm and sweetness, fans of quixotic romance will likely accept the film's lack of originality for its bountiful amount of sentimentality and tenderness. It's emotional candy for the holiday season.
Fans of cinema will want to look over Sight & Sound's most recent poll of 250 of the Greatest Films ever made. Compiled once a decade since 1962, this list is a great primer for anyone interested in watching the most talked and written about works, including silent films, movies from Hollywood's golden era, contemporary art house flicks and foreign language masterpieces from the 1950's and 60's. Comedies, Drama, Westerns, Noir, Romance—it's all there. Here are the top ten:
The history of cinema is a rich and varied one that can be enjoyed and understood by engaging in works that dot the historical timeline and cross geographic borders. If you're a film buff who loves discovering classic films and pioneering directors like I am, you'll certainly want to keep an eye on our collection of historically significant foreign language films. Many of the greatest films to reach the big screen came about in European, Asian and Latin American countries, where filmmaking represents a fundamental piece of their cultural identities. Below, you'll find a brief list of foreign language films made from the mid 1950's through today that are transformative works of art that are crucial touchstones in the development of world cinema. Many of these rule-breaking films are now available from the Criterion Collection.
Essential directors:
Essential Films:
The award winning comedy Modern Family is comfort food television. It's a sugary snack that leaves you with a warm heart and feeling a bit gooey on the inside. Exaggerated characters full of zaney cluelessness crisscross through the lives of their siblings and parents, screwing things up for one or more of their family members. Because these characters only exist in TV Land, they always pull together to resolve the mishaps with a lesson learned and a family hug by the end of the show. It's not a show that will sit along side the Seinfeld's of the comedic world but for a few hours, you can rest your brain and let slip a few chuckles at these disfunctional clans as they navigate contemporary issues.
"Salmon Fishing in the Yemen", with Ewan McGregor,
Emily Blunt and Kristin Scott Thomas. The title says it all. A good friend of
mine, JD, recommended this DVD, I watched it and liked it so much I told my
wife she had to watch it. The premise is that there is a Sheik in the Yemen
with tons and tons of money who loves fly fishing for salmon and equates it
with a religious experience. He also wants to do something for Yemen, provide
water for agriculture. Emily Blunt handles the Sheik's finances and finds Ewan
McGregor, a fishing expert, to help her make the Sheik's dream come true. Kristen
Scott Thomas is the Prime Minister's PR person (this takes place in England)
and sees this as a good PR piece. Ewan says it is impossible and starts to list
all the reasons why, Emily counters them, you need water, the sheik has built a
dam, you need cool temperature, the temperature in that part of Yemen is cool, Ewan
says it will cost 50 million and Emily doesn't even blink. The story is nice,
the interactions of the people is what captivated me. Sheik Muhammed played by
Amr Waked was an excellent portrayal of a sheik. He had the beard, the soft
demeanor, the handling of the beads while he talked. This and many other movies
are available in our AV department.
Have you ever wanted to just slap a spoiled rotten whiny rich kid? Frank takes it a step farther. In "God Bless America" Frank has been told that he has only a few months to live, he lost his job, he is divorced and his kid doesn't want to see him. Frank decides to kill himself. But while watching television he sees a spoiled rotten rich kid complaining that the car she got for graduation was the wrong car. So Frank finds her and shoots her dead. Roxy, a 16 year old girl, sees Frank do this and convinces Frank to take her with him and go find others who are also deserving of death. They have long conversations of just who those people are, one group is people who high five. Frank teaches Roxy how to shoot and in response to his praise she quips she just pretended the targets were members of Glee. Frank and Roxy go on a Bonnie and Clyde shooting spree, Roxy even buys hats for both of them so Frank can look like a gangster and she looks like Patty Hearst. I found this movie entertaining but it's not for those who are easily offended.
Technically, I've missed the mid-year mark but here's a list of my picks for recommended film viewing. I'm sure other titles will end up on the year-end tally (I suspect P.T. Anderson's The Master will be my number one) but here's a start.
Beasts of the Southern Wild
In no way deserving of the hype that this buzzed about indie has received but certainly warrants watching. A five year old protagonist's cute face and acting chops can't save this picture's flaws but many will find its story uplifting and moving.
Damsels in Distress
Indie darling and pre-Wes Anderson autuer of the twee aristrocracy, Whit Stillman returns with a film that will no doubt divide audiences along love/hate lines.
The Turin Horse
Bleak, hopeless, painfully unfolded end of the world fair shot in a sumptuous black and white that will appeal to the existentialist-leaning devotees of Bresson, Bergman and Tarkovsky. No Michael Bay stuff here.
The Deep Blue Sea
A somber story of heartache and loss expressed through the fine acting of British actress Rachel Weisz.
Gerhard Richter Painting
A straight forward documentary that will likely appeal to those familiar with the world's most famous living painter's role in the shaping of post-war art.
Casa de mi Padre (My Father's House) stars Will Ferrell. It
is a Spanish language film with English subtitles. It is done is the style of
the overly dramatic telenovelas. Armando Alvarez (Will Ferrell) has lived on
his father's ranch in Mexico his whole life. His father's ranch is in debt.
Armando's brother Raul comes home with his fiancee and says he will pay off the
debt. But Raul's income is from drug dealings. Armando falls for Raul's woman.
A war between Raul and Mexico's most feared drug lord, Onza ensues.
The story is ok but the spoof of telenovelas is what kept me
watching this movie. The mountain lion is made of paper mache and looks that
way on purpose. When Armando and Sonia are riding horses they show real horses
and then the next shot is of them on obviously fake horses. The part I liked
best was when they drove into town and parked their car. The film showed a
match box car driving on a cardboard cutout of a town. When you watch this
movie don't expect high grade CGI, this is a spoof movie of overly dramatic
telenovelas. Just go with it and let it roll.
Writer and director Nora Ephron passed away yesterday from cancer. Some of her films include Silkwood, When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, You've Got Mail, Heartburn, and Julie & Julia. Known for quirky, romantic comedies, Ephron's work lives on here at KPL.
Every December, the National Film Preservation Board, established by Congress in 1988, chooses up to 25 movies to be added to the National Film Registry (NFR) List. The "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" films chosen must be at least 10 years old, though not necessarily of feature length, nor must they have been released to a theatrical audience (though you will recognize many that have.) KPL has a great many of these films in our collection. I was intrigued to find a wide variety of movies, such as Halloween, El Norte, Toy Story (I) and Marian Anderson: the Lincoln Memorial Concert (produced in 1939.) Watch several of the shorts from the NFR list in Treasures from American Film Archives and More Treasures from American Film Archives To learn more about NFR films, check out 2 books from our collection, both with the main title of America's Film Legacy. The older edition focuses on the first 500 films on the list, while the newer version updates readers about 50 movies more recently added to the list. To find NFR films in the KPL catalog in the future, choose Movie Search on the horizontal menu, and type "National Film Registry" in the Word or Phrase search field.
Comedic straight men are vastly underrated. Ask anyone who the funniest person on Arrested Development was, and they'll say someone like Will Arnett or David Cross or Jessica Walter. But I'll defy everybody and say that the MVP of that particular piece of television gold was Jason Bateman, who had to deal with a cadre of loonies while wearing a straight face and lobbing under-the-breath quips and deadpan one-liners that could steal the show from any chicken-dancing cast member. His was a subtly brilliant performance that provided a (mostly) levelheaded balance to the rest of the kinetic comedy going on around him, and he doesn't get enough credit for it.
Bateman's heir apparent to the Underappreciated Straight Man throne is Adam Scott. Scott's been playing a wide variety of roles in both film and television since the nineties; he's the kind of ubiquitous actor who, if you don't know his name, certainly makes you think, "Hey, it's that guy from that one thing." Some people recognize him from his turn as Will Ferrell's arrogant younger sibling in 2008's Stepbrothers; others might know him from his stint on the critically-acclaimed-but-short-lived HBO drama Tell Me You Love Me. Of course now he's best known for playing Ben Wyatt, Pawnee's former assistant city manager, recovering Boy Mayor, and Leslie Knope's go-to grope on the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation. Here, much like Bateman, Scott repeatedly finds himself playing it straight to eccentrics like Aziz Ansari's aspiring entrepreneur Tom Haverford and Chris Pratt's dimwitted Andy. His comedic timing and down-to-earth wryness have helped turn Parks & Rec into what is easily the funniest show currently on television.
But the series that put Adam Scott on my radar was another short-lived gem known as Party Down. This two-season Starz comedy ran from 2009 to 2010 and follows the exploits of a small catering company in Los Angeles comprised of Hollywood outcasts—aspiring actors, comedians, and writers on the rumpled fringe of success, most of whom are waiting despondently for their big break. Scott plays disillusioned Henry Pollard, whose brief moment in the spotlight as the star of a popular nationwide beer commercial made him a household face, but ruined his career. Now Henry finds himself stuck in the aimless limbo of early adulthood, unsure of what his next step will be and haunted by the career that never was, thanks in particular to the constant stream of people who order him to recite his famous line from the old beer spot, "Are we having FUN yet?" Each time Henry is forced to repeat the catchphrase, Adam Scott lets you see a little bit of his character's soul dying. It's another one of Scott's hilarious straight-man performances in the middle of a great show that ended too soon. So if you're a fan of Parks and Recreation (and if you're not, you should be), check out Party Down, because every time Adam Scott says, "Are we having FUN yet?" you'll say, "Yes, Adam. We are. Thanks to you."
Now it's time for you to let us know: Who are some of your favorite underrated comedic actors and actresses?
A classic is a work of art that can stand the test of time and remain relevant, fresh and engaging years after its creation. It possesses the internal mechanisms and universal themes to produce pleasure and awake interest in its audience year after year. Its appeal will carry on long after trends and fads dissolve into the dustbin of historical detritus. The films of John Hughes are unquestionably considered classics today by both the navel gazing critic and the new movie fan alike. Hughes worked mostly in the 1980's, mostly concentrating his writing and directing on intelligently conceived teen comedies (The Breakfast Club, Weird Science, Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink, Some Kind of Wonderful) that possessed depth, dimension and pathos, characteristics that were rare for youth-centered movies of the eighties. Hughes had a string of hits that he either wrote or directed beginning with Sixteen Candles (1984) thru Home Alone (1990). Ferris Bueller's Day Off, a hilarious romp that follows the afternoon adventures of a school skipping Ferris, his girlfriend Sloane and his best friend Cameron, launched the career of Matthew Broderick and also featured a cameo from a young Charlie Sheen. Arguably one of Hughes' best "teen" films, it continues to feel unsullied by time, even today, twenty six years after it was released.
The Guard is a dark comedy set in a small town in Ireland. It's also a throwback buddy film where two cops from different backgrounds work together to fight crime while insulting eachother. It has its tender moments but for the most part, The Guard is all about the genre and complying with the dictates of cliche. The great character actor Don Cheadle plays an uptight FBI agent sent to provincial Ireland to bust a drug ring. Along the way, he encounters the eccentric and verbally unfiltered policeman Gerry Boyle, who has his own method of conducting police investigations. The two bristle at one another's approach, disliking the other's personality but like all buddy films, they come to find common ground in bringing the bad guys to justice.
On a recent day, whilst in the midst of reflecting upon the great breadth of films we own at KPL and those I've watched, I challenged myself to list 100 of my favorite movies while acknowledging that such a list was neither full nor accurate (the problem of memory). I'm sure I'm missing some very obvious choices but here they are, in no particular order and with almost no employed criteria involved whatsoever. Later on this year, I'll add another 100 to the mix. Harold and Maude Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind There Will Be Blood Goodfellas My Left Foot Dog Day Afternoon Au Hasard Balthazar Breathless Petulia Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner The Mission The Elephant Man The Breakfast Club Breakfast at Tiffany's Badlands Tree of Life Umberto D Star Wars Miller's Crossing Raising Arizona Buffalo 66 The Apartment The Professional Cool Hand Luke Ordinary People Magnolia All the President's Men The Graduate Night of the Hunter Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Memento Bulworth Rebel Without a Cause The Way We Were Rushmore The Royal Tenenbaum's Submarine Amelie Annie Hall Manhattan Wild Strawberries A Few Good Men The Diving Bell and the Butterfly Adaptation L.A. Confidential Clueless Coal Miner's Daughter Dead Man Walking The Shawshank Redemption Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb Drugstore Cowboy My Own Private Idaho Goodwill Hunting Platoon The Deer Hunter Fargo Giant JFK A Streetcar Named Desire Full Metal Jacket Anchor Man Groundhog Day Little Big Man Kramer Vs Kramer Heathers The Hours Uncle Buck Sixteen Candles The Last Picture Show Paper Moon Naked Lone Star Do the Right Thing Frankie and Johnny Taxi Driver Metropolitan My Life as a Dog Norma Rae Wings of Desire Seven Raging Bull Rain Man Silence of the Lambs Tender Mercies Thelma and Louise This is Spinal Tap Raiders of the Lost Ark E.T. When Harry Met Sally Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf The Age of Innocence Short Cuts The Big Lebowski In the Mood for Love Days of Heaven Glengarry Glen Ross American Beauty Ice Storm Jude Schindler's List
If you love movies like I do, you may have been waiting anxiously for the Academy Award nominations that were announced this morning, which is kind of like opening day for Oscar season. And if you're a hardcore fanatic like I am, you try to see as many of the nominated films as possible before the Big Night. Thanks to the nearby Rave Cinema, which often shows more independent and limited-release films than its in-town competitors, I can often catch many of the nominees in a timely fashion. But for some of the more esoteric films, I often find myself driving to places like Grand Rapids, Lansing or Ann Arbor, as I have already done this season. (Crazy, I know, but I did use the word "fanatic" to describe myself.) For those of you normal folks who'd prefer their cultural horizons to be expanded without breaking their odometer, I thought I would mention all of the year's Oscar-nominated stuff that you can get right here, right now at KPL.
Four of the Best Picture nominees are available now on Blu-ray and DVD:
The film Hugo had the most Oscar nominations with 11, which included Best Picture, Director (Martin Scorsese), and Adapted Screenplay. As of this writing, it does not yet have a release date for Blu-ray or DVD, but you can read The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Brian Selznick's Caldecott-winning book upon which it was based. Howard Shore's score was also nominated and is currently on compact disc.
Other Best Picture nominees not yet available on Blu-ray or DVD but based on books you can read now include Kaui Hart Hemmings' The Descendants (5 nominations), Jonathan Safran Foer's Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2 nominations), and Michael Morpurgo's War Horse (6 nominations).
Beyond the Best Picture list, there are plenty of currently available films that received Oscar nominations today:
David Fincher's adaptation of Stieg Larsson's mega-popular mystery The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo received five nominations; it's not yet available on Blu-ray or DVD, but you can read the book, check out the original Swedish version, or listen to Trent Reznor's score (which was, in my opinion, the Academy's biggest snub this year).
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy received nominations for Actor (Gary Oldman), Original Score, and Adapted Screenplay. You can read the novel from spymaster John le Carré, or check out the original British mini-series starring Alec Guinness.
Flight of the Conchords vet Bret McKenzie received a Best Original Song nomination for the amusingly existential "Man or Muppet" track from—what else?—The Muppets. The soundtrack is available now. The only other song nomination came from the soundtrack to the animated film Rio.
So there you have it: an exhaustive list of currently available materials from this year's crop of Oscar nominations, complete with links to the items themselves. Whether you use it to browse for some ideas, or turn it into a checklist for immediate consumption is up to you. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some driving to do.
(Psst. If your interested in my personal choices for the ten best films of the year, you can find them here.)
Over the holiday I was able to catch up on some film titles from the past year that I had failed to see during the previous twelve months. In particular, I enjoyed two documentaries, Page One: inside the New York Times and Conan O'Brien Can't Stop, that were both listed on KPL staff 2011 Best of Lists. While very different in style and content, the films relate in my opinion because the subject of each documentary seem to be, at least at some level, "in" on the project and are using the documentary format to take a position and very effectively tell the audience something about themselves. In the case of Page One, it's the NYT convincing us that they remain relevant and the authoritative place for news in an ever splintering media landscape, and in the case of Conan O'Brien, which was filmed in the aftermath of O'Brien's famously contentious split with NBC and Jay Leno, its O'Brien convincing us that he is an incredibly, almost compulsively, driven entertainer. Both films have compelling characters featured prominently, with Page One its NYT media and culture columnist David Carr – who, after watching this film, I think of as the Keith Richards of journalism – and with Conan O'Brien Can't Stop it has to be O'Brien himself, he is in nearly every frame of the film and working incredibly hard to entertain everyone near him during his every waking second. I'm glad that I had the time to watch both films, and I recommend using KPL staff picks, our Movies and Music pages, and KPL staff in all our locations to help keep your "to watch" lists full of great titles.
Seeing Robert Duvall's crazy hermit hair on the back of the DVD case for Get Low made me want to see this movie. In Schneider's movie, Duvall has lived alone for 40 years in the Tennesses backwoods trying to pay penance for some past actions that are slowly revealed throughout the movie. During those 40 years, the townspeople have passed along a lot of stories about what he has done and why he lives alone. He has also become the destination for dares amongst the children who are afraid of him, but also intrigued by the mystery.
Feeling his mortality, Duvall decides to commission a funeral party, but one which he will attend, alive. Bill Murray, an owner of a funeral parlor, decides to make it happen. The prickly and humorous interactions between Murray and Duvall are fun to watch.
One day when I walked into my bank one of the very nice employees, who knew that I worked in Reference at KPL, said she had seen a good movie that made her think of me. I was glad she recommended 'The Desk Set' because I enjoyed it very much. Filmed in 1957, the setting is the reference area of the library at the fictional Federal Broadcasting Company. A seasoned cast, headed by Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn, works through a comic story line that involves the computerization of the library (already in 1957!). Thinking the computer is there to take over their jobs, the librarians fight mightily to prove that service by humans is superior to any that could be rendered by a machine. In the end, they find out that the computer has been installed to assist them, not replace them, and all is well. Even without the good plot, which takes place during the end-of-the-year holidays, 'The Desk Set' is worth watching just for the furnishings and architecture. Actually, the library and its methods of operation in this film are much closer to the KPL in which I began working in 1969 than to the library of today. Tempus fugit!
The Father of Invention stars Kevin Spacey as a "Fabricator" . In the movie they explain that the definition of a Fabricator is one who takes two things and puts them together to make something new, they also say that the fourth definition says Liar. The movie begins showing Kevin Spacey as a successful business man worth 1.6 billion dollars. They briefly show you some of his successful products and then show his latest AB Cruncher Television remote control. Unfortunately it has a design flaw and has a tendency to lop of peoples fingers. Kevin Spacey goes to jail for 8 years and the movie really begins with his release from jail and his struggle to regain a life in the business field and with his estranged family. Coming out of jail his appearance has changed from crisp business man to dirty ragged long stringy hair homeless man. As the movie progresses he slowly changes appearance loses the long stringy hair. In the transition part he wears clothes picked out by his daughter's Lesbian friend played by Heather Graham. She is not fond of him and in the guise of getting him hip clothes he looks like a loser. Throughout the movie he tries to come up with a new great idea that will put him back on top. One of the best scenes is when Heather Graham is showing him Guitar Hero and she is playing the guitar and he is on the drums, he says what would make this even better, thinking hey I can do my thing and fabricate, is if it had a microphone at which time Heather tosses one at him because the idea has already been thunked.Of course being a movie, he does come up with an idea and it does put him back on top but along the way he realizes family is important and cue the rainbows all is wonderful. I liked the movie. It will not will an award, it will not be on my top 100 list but I didn't feel like I wasted 93 minutes either. I also happen to like Kevin Spacey and Heather Graham.
Every summer, several of my friends and I travel up north for the annual Traverse City Film Festival. Founded by Michigan native Michael Moore and co-chaired by Hollywood folk like Curb Your Enthusiasm star Jeff Garlin and Borat director Larry Charles, this cinema-stuffed week gives us a chance to soak in all the indie and foreign films, incisive documentaries and beloved classics that our increasingly sore posteriors can handle. (We also find time to relax and simply enjoy the beautiful T.C. area when we're not staring at the silver screen.) One of our most beloved rituals is getting the whole gang together for a midnight movie of choice; these usually consist of foreign or indie horror films that will never see a wide release in the United States. Several of the ones we have screened have gone on to achieve cult-classic status: brilliant Swedish vampire hit Let the Right One In; Norwegian Nazi-zombie gore-fest Dead Snow; South Korean rampaging-monster movie The Host. In the summer of 2010, we had the opportunity to screen another such instant gem—one that, until recently, had bafflingly avoided a distribution deal: the top-notch horror-comedy Tucker & Dale vs. Evil.
T&DvE is the kind of tongue-in-cheek splatter flick that offers as much joy from satire and humor as it does from excessive carnage. The story follows the two titular hapless hillbillies as they set off for their dilapidated vacation home out in the woods. On their way, they have an unfortunate run-in with a gaggle of snobby college kids who mistake their curiosity for threatening redneck menace. Tensions mount when one of the girls, Allison, has a swimming accident and winds up in the care of a love-struck Dale and an inconvenienced Tucker. The guys try to let the kids know they've rescued Allison, but their methods—which include shouting through the woods, "Hey college kids! We've got your friend!"—lead the suspicious youth to believe she's been kidnapped. The college kids mount an assault on Tucker and Dale, but a series of very unfortunate and very bloody accidents (let's just say bees and chainsaws don't mix, nor do wood chippers and lunging) result in a body count that only reinforces Tucker's and Dale's images as crazed murderous lunatics, while convincing them that the college kids have some sort of suicide pact.
Credit for the success of this film certainly belongs, in part, to first-time feature director and co-writer Eli Craig. But the lead cast for this film cannot be more perfect: 30 Rock's Katrina Bowden gets to expand her comedy chops as Allison; Dale is played by Tyler Labine, best known for TV's short-lived Reaper and the recent Rise of the Planet of the Apes. But best of all is Firefly/Serenity MVP Alan Tudyk, a talented movie and TV actor whose comedic timing is unparalleled in Hollywood. He's simply one of the funniest guys working today.
So if you are in the mood for a great horror-comedy in the tradition of the Evil Dead franchise or Shaun of the Dead, check out Tucker & Dale vs. Evil. And then, maybe, rethink that backwoods camping trip you were planning for next summer, and come spend your late-July inside a movie theater in Traverse City with me.
Mr. Popper's Penguins
I thought I'd give this movie a try, it looked cute but it had Jim Carrey in it. I entered this movie with trepidation. Jim Carrey can be funny but 98% of the time, to me, he isn't. I find his silly shenanigans not appealing to my comedic tastes. I did like this movie, Jim Carrey was not the Jim Carrey of Ace Ventura but more of the Bruce Almighty type. The Penguins were adorable. I thought for sure they were CGI but seeing the DVD extras I found they were real. I think the DVD extras said it best, Penguins are 10 times better than puppies. I think the story they wrap around the penguins is ok but the movie is the Penguins. And yes there is bathroom humor, after all it is a Jim Carrey movie.
The movie is about a little boy and his relationship with his father and later when grown up his relationship with his family. The typical work before family and then discover that family comes first. Jim Carrey's father was an explorer, hence the sending of the gift of penguins. Jim Carrey is separated from his wife played by Carlo Gugino and has two children played by Madeline Carroll and Maxwell Cotton. Jim Carrey is a big shot acquiring real estate tearing down landmarks building new buildings, the penguins arrive he discovers love. The story is ok but the fun part is watching the penguins. I also enjoyed Ophelia Lovibond who played Pippi. She must have worked hard on her dialog. They had her speak almost exclusively using words that began with a P.
If you can tolerate or better yet fast forward through some of the slapstick parts you will enjoy this movie. If you have a eight year old who thinks a farting penguin is funny then no fast wording necessary.
Around this time of year many people begin to watch holiday classics like It's a Wonderful Life or White Christmas, but there's a handful of great movies that take place around Thanksgiving worth checking out. I'm not thinking of A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, Miracle on 34th Street, or even Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. Thanksgiving can be a time of anxiety, with tension between family members threatening to spoil the day, so naturally some of the best Thanksgiving films center on dysfunctional families.
Hannah and Her Sisters (1986): This film takes place over the course of two Thanksgivings, following the ups and downs and twists and turns in the lives of three sisters, played by Mia Farrow, Dianne Wiest, and Barbara Hershey. There's sibling rivalry, midlife crises, and hypochondria, but the movie's true charms are the richly human characters and the outstanding soundtrack. This is my favorite Woody Allen film, as well as my favorite movie to watch on Thanksgiving.
The Ice Storm (1997): Set in 1973 suburban Connecticut, this film follows two upper middle class families over Thanksgiving weekend. Much darker than Hannah and Her Sisters, The Ice Storm explores the upheaval in social norms during that time, with amazing performances by Christina Ricci, Kevin Kline, and Sigourney Weaver.
Pieces of April (2003): April, the outcast of her family, offers to cook Thanksgiving dinner for her family in her cramped New York City apartment, but, of course, nothing goes according to plan. I have to admit this movie would be better without Katie Holmes as April, but Patricia Clarkson and Oliver Platt as April's parents make up for Holmes' lackluster performance, and the soundtrack by the Magnetic Fields doesn't hurt either.
There have been a slew of Saturday Night Live alumni that haven't accomplished much of anything after they departed from the long-running late night show. For every Tina Fey or Eddie Murphy, there have been countless cast members whose careers stalled. Fey's good friend and sometime collaborator Amy Poehler, has had tremendous success with her hit show Parks and Recreation. I just love this show for its bumbling characters and madcap storylines, all of which center around the Parks and Recreation Department in the fictional city of Pawnee, Indiana. Longtime fans of the show The Office will recognize many similarities between the two series, including how the show is formatted, filmed and narrated. Here's to hoping that the quirky, smart plotlines continue to stay fresh and hilarious.
For many Pixar fans, the original Cars was the least interesting addition to the studio's impeccable feature film canon on its initial release. At over two hours, its length may be a factor in viewers' disdain, but I'd also guess that prejudices against NASCAR and Larry the Cable Guy play a part. Circle racing's not for everyone (though neither is French cuisine cooked up by rats – the overwhelming praise for Ratatouille still perplexes me).
No circle racing in Cars' sequel – it's been ditched for the fictional World Grand Prix road race, moving the action to some of the world's great cities and their frantic pace, and away from Radiator Springs and most of its inhabitants (and the small-town ideals of the original film's storyline). The main Cars characters found here – race car sensation Lightning McQueen and his trusty, rusty sidekick Mater – get tangled up in an international espionage plot worthy of the James Bond franchise (Mater's mistaken for a spy, which causes trouble on and off the track between him and Lightning, until… well, like Bond films, do the plot details really matter?).
Ultimately, Cars 2's returning characters suffer the same fate as the Beatles in Help! – they end up as extras in their own movie. The similarities between the films is striking – the goofy protagonist (Ringo, Mater) works and plays with friends in exotic locales (the Beatles' proto-video performances, Lightning and Mater's racing set-pieces) while unwittingly being pursued by a variety of good and bad guys led by award-winning actors (Leo McKern, Michael Caine). The results are similar as well – anyone not having seen the previous film (A Hard Day's Night, Cars) may have no emotional attachment to the characters on-screen.
Cars 2 isn't really a bad film – animation is top-notch as always, and if you're really into spy flicks loaded with action, you may enjoy it without ever having watched the original. Still, since strong emotional attachment to characters in Pixar films is a primary source of those films' greatness, Cars 2's inability to sustain that attachment makes it the least of the studio's feature film efforts to date.
The newly released film Submarine is a sharply written, sweetly-toned, dark comedy reminiscent of the quirky films of Wes Anderson (see: Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaum's) and the lively joie de vivre of the French New Wave. The film doesn't cover new ground in terms of themes and subject matter, but it sustains your interest and deserves to be seen for the beautifully rendered cinematography (the gray, sunless beauty of the Welsh coast is its own character) and the strong acting performances, especially the work of Sally Hawkins and Noah Taylor as the protagonist's parents. The movie is an adaptation of the novel by author Joe Dunthorne, who also co-wrote the screenplay.
Oliver Tate is an angst-filled and precocious teen who sits in class, fantasizing about his own death and how his schoolmates will remember him (heroically of course). Cut from a similar cloth as Harold from Harold and Maude and possessive of the qualities of a slightly neurotic, hormonally-driven teenager (see: every coming of age movie over the past fifty years) who speaks with a rapid-fire deadpan, Oliver sets out to address his two biggest concerns as a 15 year-old: saving his parents' marriage from a new age "mystic" and figuring out his relationship with his firework's-obsessed, anti-romantic romantic girlfriend Jordana. In between these two goals, Oliver plays movies in his head and listens to the records of French crooners. He constructs mental films of his existential woes (what tormented teen doesn't?) and not surprisingly, has a Woody Allen photo on his bedroom wall and reads Catcher in the Rye and Nietzsche (because as we all know, most teens are reading The Birth of Tragedy). His problems range from the domestic to the romantic, both conflicts driving him to actions both absurdly funny and achingly real. Some of the best parts of the movie are when Oliver attempts to intervene in his parents' rocky marriage, spying on them both while conceiving of ways to bring them closer. The soundtrack, written by Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys is fantastic as well.
I'm not usually a fan of mysteries, but I am a fan of Jason Schwartzman, so when I found Bored to Death in our collection, I gave it a try. Schwartzman plays Jonathan Ames (also the name of the writer/creator of the show), a struggling novelist who, on a whim, places an ad on Craigslist offering affordable private detective services. Jonathan is a pothead, drinks too much white wine, and can't get over his ex-girlfriend, making his efforts to solve cases (and just get through life in general) pretty funny. Ted Danson plays Jonathan's boss George, a wealthy magazine editor as clueless as Jonathan, and Zach Galifianakis plays a struggling comic-book artist and best friend to Jonathan. Overall the show is fairly conventional, but it has some very funny lines that make it worth watching.
Produced by Nickelodeon studios – which gave the world SpongeBob and slime – Rango was heavily promoted on Nick's cable channel (and elsewhere) just prior to its theatrical release last March. Why not? The film is populated by talking animals, its lead character (voiced by Johnny Depp, star of Rango director Gore Verbinski's Pirates of the Caribbean series) is naively charming and quirky, and, hey, it's animated! Must be a kids' flick.
Not so fast. It's not that kids won't enjoy Rango – my first-grader did – it's just that Rango may really be a cult film for adults disguised as a kids' flick. (Yes, my kid enjoyed it, but didn't talk about it much past the day we saw it.) While most decent kids' films in the last decade have plenty of references kids may not get, the entirety of Rango will make the most sense to adults who have grown up with, well, films for grown-ups.
Our hapless title hero, a domesticated lizard who, like Bolt and so many other animated big-screen pets, gets separated from his cushy lifestyle in the film's opening moments, is thrown into a gritty western scenario more evocative of Anthony Mann than Woody's Roundup. Townspeople are terrorized by villains who control the town's water supply (shades of Chinatown), so when the goofy stranger arrives on the scene, they look to him as their last great hope (echoes of High Noon). Nothing here the kids can't enjoy, but what's up with that Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas reference?
Rango's classic western types are thoroughly engaging characters that should have their audience really caring about their fates, whether or not it cares about westerns. That said, familiarity with the western genre should make the film even more enjoyable. If that sounds like your kind of film, then don't wait for the kids to pick it up from our collection.
Gnomeo & Juliet is a very cute re-imagining of Romeo and Juliet. It has stars like James McAvoy, Emily Blunt, Michael Caine, Jason Statham, Ossy Osbourne, Patrick Stewart, Hulk Hogan. It is a very well done computer animated family feature. There are Blue Gnomes in one Garden and Red Gnomes in the other Garden and of course like the story a Blue Gnome falls in love with the Red Gnome. But the great part of this movie is the adorable Gnomes. Throughout the movie they are warring with each other, having lawn mower races, and sneak attacks with weed killer. Whenever a human is around they freeze and you can hear the porcelain clink. Elton John produced this and his songs are in it. This is a fun movie for the whole family. I love the the stealthy sunflower gnome.
Bunny and the Bull is a trip into the imagination of Stephen who has agoraphobia and doesn't leave the apartment. The movie is scenes of Stephen now in his apartment and then we transform into scenes of his imagination. We see him going to bed and sleeping and next he's opening a door in the bed which he goes through and he is in Spain with his only friend Bunny (male) and they meet a girl who quits her job as a waitress and travels with them. Stephen has a crush on her and of course Bunny sleeps with her. Then we see Stephen crawling through the back of his sofa and into his living room. Bunny is outgoing and drags Stephen into things. The best line in the movie was from a Matador, he said "Much has been written about Bull fighting, but I can sum it up in one sentence -- Get out of the way of the Bull"
Admittedly, I'm not a very big fan of television series. Those that I do enjoy tend to be dramas or comedies featured on cable networks (The Sopranos, Deadwood, In Treatment, Six Feet Under, Mad Men, Curb Your Enthusiasm). A friend of mine who is predisposed to making awful suggestions regarding films and television series mentioned that I might like the comedy How I Met Your Mother. Well, apparently you cannot be wrong all of the time and in this particular case, my friend's suggestion hit the mark. HIMYM centers on mid-twenty-something, hopeless romantic Ted Mosby and his quirky journey to find his soul mate amongst millions of New Yorkers. Alongside Ted are his best friends Barney (the lecherous womanizer and author of the Bro Code), Lily and Marshall (the perfect, engaged couple) and Robin (a possible love interest). The unreliable narration unfolds in reverse to Ted's children via flashbacks by the dubbed voice of Bob Saget in the year 2030.
Maybe you never heard of these series when they were first produced or maybe they didn't appear on the surface to be your cup of tea, so you bypassed them altogether. Now, like a fine wine, aged with time, these programs are considered classics which pushed the television industry envelope. Here are a couple of television gems within our collection that you may want to revisit or experience for the first time.
Sports Night: A show written and produced by the award-winning writer Aaron Sorkin shortly before he moved his focus to The West Wing. Sports Night fuses comedy and drama together with a rapid-fire delivery of dialogue, reminiscent of Sorkin's best work (A Few Good Men, The Social Network, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip). The show struggled to find a balance between humor and more weighty subject matter and thus confused both its network and audiences (the addition of laugh tracks were eliminated by the second season). It lasted a mere two seasons but is thought of as a forward-thinking show that posited inventive ideas about how to mix comedy and drama with the occasional sprinkling of politics.
Freaks and Geeks: Another show that baffled its network at the time of its release in 1999 and yet garnered both critical acclaim and a robust fan base. Set in 1980's Michigan, Freaks and Geeks, like Sports Night, was adept at suturing madcap narratives and hilarious dialogue to sensitive themes and dramatic depth. The series centered around two high school cliques—the nervous and awkward incoming freshman crowd and the hard-to-reach students comprised of school rebels. The character Bill Haverchuck may be the most layered and multidimensional nerd in the history of television. Judd Apatow, the successful film director and producer was an Executive Producer on Freaks and Geeks and many of its actors have appeared in his other movie projects. The show's future stars included James Franco, Jason Segel, Busy Philipps, and Seth Rogen.
The Larry Sanders Show: Years before Curb Your Enthusiasm emerged as one of HBO's most cringe-worthy comedies and years before the overly self-conscious and meta-choreographed rise of reality television and shows like Entourage, there was The Larry Sanders Show—a show about a show. Comedian Gary Shandling plays a neurotic talk show host who rarely has a day off from the various shenanigans that fate has dealt him. Surrounding Larry is a well-rounded cast of celebrities playing themselves, often to hilarious effect as well has his screwball agent (Rip Torn), his Ed McMahon-like sidekick (Jeffrey Tambor) and host of other future stars like Jeremy Piven and Janeane Garofalo.
This hilarious and ultimately heartwarming documentary tells the story of the people responsible for the "so bad it's good" film Troll 2 and what has happened to them as the low budget horror film they were involved with in 1989 slowly turned into what is affectionately known as "the worst movie ever made" - a cult favorite with maniacal fans and Rocky Horror Picture Show like midnight showing parties. Written and directed by Michael Stephenson – who actually starred in Troll 2 as a child – Best Worst Movie's main focus is George Hardy, the father in Troll 2, who is now a well loved general dentist living a quiet and happy life in a small Alabama town. The film examines the Troll 2 phenomenon and follows George and many of the other cast members, several who are clearly not as well adjusted as George appears to be, as they hit the Troll 2 circuit, engaging with rabid fans and soaking up the weird fame that they have in this realm. The film is well made, touching, funny, and above all entertaining. Even if you have never seen Troll 2 you will be a fan after viewing this great documentary.
A typical romantic comedy, this formulaic story of a man digging a woman who has eyes for someone else is pretty predictable: they hook up in the end. Starring Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler, this story highlights and reiterates what confuses us about the opposite sex, but what makes us so attracted to them at the same time. As Mike (Butler's character) says at one point, "Men are incapable of growth, change or progress. For men, self-improvement ends in toilet training". And Abby, in all her naive glory believes she will find a man who loves sunsets, cats, and red wine. While some reviews of this movie claim it demeans both Heigl and Butler, I found it a jovial diversion on a cold Michigan evening. The library has it in both DVD and Blu-ray versions for your viewing enjoyment!
When I visited some friends in Boston last year, they told me I had to watch their new favorite show, Modern Family, with them. We laughed, cackled, and guffawed our way through two episodes of Ed O'Neill's (the guy who play Al Bundy in Married with Children) new family sitcom, which finds him newly married to a much younger woman from Colombia who has a child. From his earlier marriage, he has a daughter who is married and has three children, and a son who is in a same-sex relationship and has adopted a daughter. The show just won the Best Comedy Emmy Award.
I was excited that the library bought the first season on DVD so I could see everything that I missed last year. In fact, this is almost the only way I watch tv shows anymore. I love being able to watch all the shows in a compact amount of time; sometimes one a night for a few weeks. It's also great to have the option to watch another episode right away when you are really hooked.
Here are some other shows the library owns that I have really enjoyed watching on DVD:
Friday Night Lights
30 Rock
Six Feet Under
For a guy who insists he's deliberately "doing nothing" with his life, Greenberg's title character (Ben Stiller) keeps pretty busy. He's building a doghouse for his brother's pet while housesitting for him; he's constantly penning letters to businesses expressing his dissatisfaction with the most minute details of their services; he takes up an offer from women half his age to go on a deep-sea diving expedition in Australia, despite the fact that he's a terrible swimmer. From the sounds of it, this quirky, aging slacker's screen saga – last June's Kalamazoo Film Society selection - might make for light viewing with plenty of laughs, except for one detail – Greenberg's trying to deal with life outside an institution, from which he's recently been released after recovering from a breakdown of an unspecified nature. Watching his brother's house, in a city he left behind years ago, gives him an opportunity to reconnect with members of his old social circle, but since social norms are no longer a constraint for him, the expression of his feelings and impulses can be cause for embarrassment, pain, and alienation, as well as a certain poignancy (and laughs – this is still a comedy). Greenberg's caught in a vicious cycle of feeling discomfort, which feeds others' discomfort, which further feeds his own. Stiller's pitch-perfect performance – not too wacky, not too angst-ridden – is beautifully complemented by Greta Gerwig's performance as his brother's assistant, a woman in her mid-twenties whose impulsive life reflects Greenberg's own. The two forge a tentative bond that's constantly tested throughout the film, and one wonders if the bond can possibly last when both people live so in the moment. As with the best character-study films, Noah Baumbach's latest doesn't force-feed any resolutions – it's simply enough to watch these characters try to make sense of their lives, even when they don't live them sensibly... but who does?
The tearjerker is a film that transcends one's predispositions and cuts into those deep and often impenetrable portions of our shared, collective humanity to move us in ways we never dared to admit. Another view, one much less celebratory, reads the tearjerker as the sort of film that eschews realism for romanticized dramatic effect, that idealizes human relations, or that revoltingly rejoices in the most insidious forms of Hollywood sentimentality. Sometimes intellectually or creatively deeper than acknowledged, but still retaining of the elements of the cheesiness factor, are films that balance both of these tensions and contradictions; films that are both at times lurching toward being maudlin and overwrought and yet at other times depict authentic and truthful depth.
Here is a short list of films that will have you racing for the Kleenex.
The 1970's were arguably one of the best decades for film making in the United States. Many of the major studios began to allow young directors much greater power and freedom to craft artistic pictures and in doing so, gave birth to the last golden age of American cinema. The seventies saw the emergence of decorated and influential directors and writers like Steven Spielberg (Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind), William Friedkind (The Exorcist), George Lucas (American Graffiti, Star Wars), Martin Scorsese (Taxi Driver, Mean Streets), Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather Trilogy, The Conversation, Apocalypse Now), Terrence Malick (Badlands, Days of Heaven), Robert Towne (Chinatown), Peter Bogdanovich (Paper Moon, The Last Picture Show), Sydney Pollack (Three Days of the Condor, The Way We Were, All the President's Men) Sidney Lumet (Dog Day Afternoon, Serpico) and Robert Altman (MASH, McCabe and Mrs. Miller, The Long Goodbye) to name but just a few. Here are just a few of the most interesting films made during this original decade that we currently circulate. Lastly, a great documentary that chronicles this subject, Decade Under the Influence, will soon accompany these other classic films on our shelves.
The Last Picture Show
Carnal Knowledge
Harold and Maude (VHS)
Little Big Man
Annie Hall
Kramer Vs Kramer (VHS)
Paper Moon
Having recently taken over the responsibilities of selecting films for our audiovisual collection, I'm excited to report about some of the new titles that I've recently ordered. Some are here in the building and others are on their way. Why these films you ask? Well, these are personal favorites of mine that I would argue with great adoration and zeal that because of their artistic merits warrant their inclusion within our diverse and varied cinema collection. Some are big name classics and others are great films that have either languished in obscurity or have been appreciated only by its ardent fans. Some may have already been part of our collection in years past and now have a second chance at falling into your hands. I hope you enjoy these movie treasures.
I watch more films than the average person, so while the allure of the Lake Michigan shore often takes priority during these warm, sunny months, I've still managed to find some time to view several exceptional films that are worth checking out.
Given that yesterday was a day for punching voter ballots, here is a list of some of my favorite films about politics.
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
All the President's Men (1976)
Wag the Dog (1998)
In the Loop (2009)
Bob Roberts (1992)
Bulworth (1998)
Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
I give it a month, anyone used to $600 shoes and Louis Vuitton suitcases is not going to like slaving away in a backwoods inn. Add to that, it is in Ireland and she is used to big city and likes a big city life, she will quickly tire of working in an inn.
The movie is cute, When Amy Adam's boyfriend of 4 years does not propose on their 4 year anniversary, Amy Adams decides she will do something about it. Her boyfriend goes to Ireland, why I do not remember, and there is an Irish Tradition that the woman can propose to the man on the 29th of February. Now, why she doesn't communicate with her boyfriend while in the states I do not know. Why she thinks she has to go to Ireland and propose instead if just saying to her boyfriend "Hey, lets get Married", but then there would be no movie. Of course (spoiler alert) she meets someone, falls in love, changes her entire life and gets married to him. It is filled with funny situations even if it is not very realistic. But then if it was, I would have been bored and not watched. So if you are looking for a romantic comedy and are willing to let go of reality, you can pick up this movie at KPL.
When talking about directors who consistently make provocative, intellectually-inspired films that are commercially successful while not slighting of the audience's acumen, the conversation must include the films of the Coen brothers (Joel and Ethan). Known for their genre bending, dark comedies, the Coen's have made some of the most memorable films of the past two decades, including the adapted No Country for Old Men, which won Best Picture in 2007, Fargo (1996), Raising Arizona (1987), Miller's Crossing (1990), and the cult masterpiece, The Big Lebowski (1998). There have been a couple of missteps along the way (Intolerable Cruelty and The Lady Killers) but for the most part, their unique vision of human destiny embodies a distinctive mixture of gallows humor, richly drawn characters, and absurd circumstances that often pit their protagonist against both the quirks of chance and the poorly conceived decisions of individuals. While I wouldn't characterize their newest film A Serious Man as one of their best movies, it remains as one of last year's better films that will likely satisfy the devotee. What do you get when you engage a Coen Brothers film? A little bit of crime fiction, a dash of film noir, a teaspoon of odd ball comedy, a bag of literary and film allusions, topped off with a pinch of both real and implied violence thrown in. Of their 14 full length films, the following selection is arguably their most important.
No Country for Old Men (adapted from a Cormac McCarthy novel)
Miller's Crossing
Barton Fink
The Big Lebowski
Raising Arizona
The British comedy In the Loop is an uproarious, political comedy akin to satiric classics like Wag the Dog or the imitable Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. Bumbling policy wonks, hawkish politicos, a peace loving general, and a foul mouthed British government official find themselves either fighting against or fighting for the invasion of Iraq. Fast paced, witty and outrageously scathing in its characterization of those who run the British and U.S. governments, In the Loop pulls no punches at laughing at the slapstick-like antics in this fictional account of the lead up to the invasion and occupation of Iraq.
This is following upon Ann's earlier post about the depth and diversity of our film and television collection. I'd also like to point to the marvelous array of foreign language movies and in particular those that have been released by the Criterion Collection. There is no better way to introduce yourself to the rich body of world cinema then to explore Criterion's growing pool of cult films, many of which have never found a broad audience here in the United States. I'm referring to Larisa Shepitko's heartbreaking The Ascent (Russian), François Truffaut's memorable new wave coming of age story The 400 Blows (French), Hong Kong action hits like John Woo's The Killers (Cantonese), the highly influential masterpiece Rashomon by Akira Kurosawa (Japanese), and Steven Soderbergh's provoking narrative about drug trafficking Traffic (Spanish/English).
This is not a blog post about any particular movie, rather it is to call attention to our strong, current movie collection generally.
As I read movie reviews, see the announcement of what is playing at the Little Theatre on campus, or hear a friend mention a good movie, I jot down the title and check our holdings. We usually have the movie in our collection OR have it on order OR will order it as soon as available on DVD.
New titles are added to our catalog on Tuesdays. To see the listing in the KPL catalog, click on "New Items", then "New DVDs."
I've just added these titles to my list of "movies to watch sometime": Amelia Earhart, Big Fan, and Inglourious Basterds. They are all in our collection already.
I was a little too old for picture books when Judi Barrett's Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs was first published in 1978 (though I've since encountered it during my own child's storytimes, and am particularly fond of Ron Barrett's whimsical illustrations). Not having any sentimental attachment to the original work made it easy for me to enjoy the animated film adaptation, released in theaters late last summer (and now out on DVD).
Gone is the framing device of the original story, which has a grandfather spinning a tall tale during his grandkids' mealtime about a town where food falls from the sky for no apparent reason. In the movie version, a young inventor devises a machine that can turn water into food, which he sends into the clouds above his depressed fishing community so it can enjoy more culinary choices than the steady stream of sardines it's used to consuming. Once the tasty treats start falling, the former failed scientist becomes a local celebrity... until things go terribly wrong, and disaster borne of mad science must be averted.
The pace of the film is frantic - which can't be said of the book - but it's by no means a mean-spirited film, so I'd recommend it to parents who don't mind getting the kids revved up with high-speed screen antics. Parents shouldn't be bored, either – there's some sly satire thrown in the mix, and I especially enjoyed spotting all the '70's and '80's electronics cast-offs the hapless hero uses in his makeshift laboratory. Regardless of its faithfulness to the source material, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs is still a satisfying movie treat.