Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
Ho, ho, ho, or bah humbug, depending on your disposition as this holiday season reaches fever pitch. I’m not sure how you celebrate the holidays, but for me, ‘tis the season to see movies. And it’s not just something I want to do in the coming week. It’s something I need to do.
How the hell did I get so far behind?!
I mean, I see a lot of films. It’s not like I’ve been slacking off. But somehow I just turned around and realized that there’s something like 15 movies in theaters I want to see. More than that, maybe. At any rate, I have the next six days to do nothing but cram movies in, as many as possible, and I’m counting on that WGA card to keep me from going totally bankrupt in the process. As I cavort through this next week, I’m going to try to share my impressions of the overload and filter through the crush of choices available at year’s end.
This is my favorite time of year. I’m shameless about it. Most people are planning to stuff themselves on Christmas dinners. Me, I’m bellying up to the buffet of major year-end releases, determined to keep piling them on till my whole system collapses. As it stands, I’m looking at a fairly dense list of stuff I want to work my way through:
(in no particular order) POLLOCK, FINDING FORRESTER, CAST AWAY, BEFORE NIGHT FALLS, YI YI (A ONE AND A TWO), ALL THE PRETTY HORSES, THIRTEEN DAYS, STATE AND MAIN, TIGERLAND, BILLY ELLIOTT, THE HOUSE OF MIRTH, YOU CAN COUNT ON ME, MALENA, CHOCOLAT, and even more mainstream fare like WHAT WOMEN WANT, PROOF OF LIFE, and THE FAMILY MAN.
At least I got DUDE, WHERE’S MY CAR out of the way.
Good lord... just looking at that list makes my head hurt. I’m looking forward to these films, but daaaaaamn, that’s a lot of movies. Of course, that’s about how many films we showed in a row at the Butt-Numb-A-Thon this year, so I guess if I think about it that way, I can handle it.
I’m glad we got one of the movies on my list out of the way at the Butt-Numb-A-Thon, actually, and I’ve spent the last few weeks mulling over Sam Raimi’s groovy new thriller THE GIFT. I was surprised how mixed the reaction was at the Alamo after this one screened. Personally, I had a great time with it, and it’s grown on me as I’ve thought it over. It’s everything I wanted from this summer’s WHAT LIES BENEATH, with a sly, simple script by Billy Bob Thornton and Tom Epperson, whose previous collaborations (A FAMILY THING and ONE FALSE MOVE) have both been smart and solid, if not spectacular. They continue in that tradition here with the story of Annie Wilson (Cate Blanchett), a small-town psychic in the modern south. Recently widowed, she’s raising several children on her own, using her particular skills to play social worker to many of her neighbors.
The film’s deceptively structured, with a gradual first act that seems to center on Valerie Barksdale (Hilary Swank) and her abusive husband Donny (Keanu Reeves). Annie encourages Valerie to leave her husband, incurring Donnie’s wrath in the process. Swank does good work as the bruised wife, but it’s not that deep a role. Surprisingly, it’s Reeves who really shines here. He deserves much credit for his menacing work, and he manages to play Donnie with shades, not just simple one note malice. Another of Annie’s regular clients is the disturbed Buddy (Giovanni Ribisi), a mechanic with dark secrets and a childlike presence. Ribisi’s played misfits before, but it’s never really paid off like this. He does affecting work, the kind that makes you reassess an actor. He’s fiercely dedicated to Annie, and when Donnie starts to threaten her, Buddy puts himself in the middle. If you had told me that the single biggest crowd reaction out of the entire 24 hour BNAT crowd would come from a scene between Reeves and Ribisi, I wouldn’t have believed it.
The film reveals its true agenda, though, when local girl Jessica King (Katie Holmes) vanishes. Her fiance Wayne (Greg Kinnear), principal of the local elementary school, is destroyed by her disappearance, as is her father, and as a last resort, they turn to Annie for help despite the skepticism of the town’s sheriff (JK Simmons). When she gets involved, she finds it’s not something she can just dabble in. She gets pulled into the very heart of the mystery, and as the other two storylines collide, everything comes together in a delicious old-fashioned creepfest. THE GIFT doesn’t break any new ground in the suspense genre, but it succeeds at everything it tries. The whodunnit aspect of the film is handled well, and even though I’d already read and reviewed the script for the film, the guilty party did a great job of making me forget. It’s a deft sleight of hand, something many filmmakers seem to have forgotten how to do.
With A SIMPLE PLAN, Sam Raimi made a thriller with a darker than average heart, and the result was genuinely unsettling. I thought Thornton’s performance in that film was wrenching, and it stuck with me. The closest we come to seeing something that powerful in this film is the work that Ribisi does, particularly when he finally figures out why he has "bad thoughts" when he looks into a blue diamond. It’s a brutal scene, shocking because of the sudden way it sneaks up on us. This isn’t a deep film, though, and there will be people who aren’t able to make the leap of faith and accept the supernatural side of the story. That’s a shame, too, because there’s a number of joys along the way that they’ll miss, like Christopher Young’s subtle, elegant score, or a creepy cameo by Danny Elfman, or the appearance of Ash’s car from the EVIL DEAD films, or the great supporting work by Katie Holmes and JK Simmons. In fact, as I reflect on it, I realize just how much I enjoyed the picture. It may not redefine the genre, but it certainly represents it with grace and style. For me, it worked well, and although I’d call this Raimi in a minor key, it’s still an important and entertaining step in his development as an artist.
Raimi’s old housemates Joel and Ethan Coen are, as I’ve stated on many occasions, my very favorite working filmmakers. There’s no one else whose work gives me the same damn fool ear-to-ear smile each and every time I see it. I still remember sitting down in a theater in 1986, no idea who Joel and Ethan Coen were, only to get punched full force in the face by RAISING ARIZONA. It wasn’t like any comedy I’d seen at the time. There was real beauty in the way it was shot, a vigorous, fluid shooting style that grabbed me by the ears and forced me to watch, afraid to blink for fear I’d miss something. And the dialogue... dear god, the things that came out of these characters. The rhythms and cadences of the speech. "TURN to the RIGHT!" "You’re a flower, ya are." "And when there was no crawdad, we et sand." "You et sand?" "We et sand." "Her insides were a rocky place where my seed could find no purchase." All of that before the opening title is even shown. I was dizzy from the impact of the movie. Over the next few days, I remember being evangelical about the Coen Brothers, trying to explain them to people, and I remember being met with the same blank stare every time.
I wish I could say things have changed, but I still find myself frustrated when I try and describe their work to someone who hasn’t been converted. Sure, they’ve flirted with the acceptance of major awards and commercial success (BARTON FINK, FARGO) and they’ve achieved cult godhood (THE BIG LEBOWSKI), but their work is so resolutely idiosyncratic that real mainstream success continues to elude them. Whenever I meet someone who’s as enamored with them as I am, it’s like stumbling across someone with a shared secret. There’s a sort of religious fervor that takes people over as they list their favorite moments from films like BLOOD SIMPLE or LEBOWSKI or MILLER’S CROSSING. Each of their films has a rabid following, and I’m amazed at how people have almost chemical reactions to the movies. There’s nothing like that first viewing of a Coen Bros. movie. That’s definitely true with their brilliant new oddball combination of comedy and music, the delirious O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?
There were laughs in the theater when the credit "Screenplay by Joel and Ethan Coen, based on the poem THE ODYSSEY by Homer" came up. I think people have the Coens pegged as wise-guys, smart alecks, and they took this as a joke of some sort. After the movie, some of the guys I went with were busy trying to decode what symbols and images from the movie actually were from Homer’s work, what was included as reference to the Preston Sturges classic SULLIVAN’S TRAVELS, and what all of it meant. In any case, it’s a lot of baggage to try and juggle when watching the movie, and it ultimately doesn’t matter if you’re picking up on references or allusions. The film is a great big wedge of entertainment, almost embarrassingly good. When you see something that’s crafted with this much skill and care, it reminds you that "comedy" doesn’t equal cheap or poorly shot. They never phone it in. They never make a film with anything less than total abandon, and all of the layers of O BROTHER only suggest rewarding reviewings to come.
On the surface, this is a relatively simple film. Ulysses Everett McGill (George Clooney), Pete Hogwallop (John Turturro), and Delmar O’Donnell (Tim Blake Nelson) escape from a chain gang in the south during the Depression with the intent of finding a treasure that Everett buried before he was sentenced. There are some references to the ODYSSEY that jump right out. There's a cyclops (John Goodman), Lotus Eaters, sirens, and a long-lost wife named Penelope (Holly Hunter). But the Coens aren’t held captive by their conceit. They feel free to texture in characters and stops along the way that are uniquely American like an obvious Robert Johnson reference or a trigger happy bank robber named George "Baby Face" Nelson. These things aren’t used in any literal sense. History means nothing. But the texture of how they’re used is accurate, and they give the film its own unique soul. The other masterstroke is the use of authentic bluegrass or folk music in the film. I have trouble deciding exactly how to classify the score, since it’s what I would call country music in the strictest sense of things. It’s not the Shania Twain and Dixie Chicks style music of today, though. This is real roots music, and the selection of material used is astounding. It’s not chosen as a joke, but as a sonic wallpaper that pulls us back in time. Actually, considering the world the film takes place in, maybe it would be more accurate to say that it pulls us sideways in time, to a place that only exists in the fertile imaginations of these brothers.
If there is a Writer’s Heaven, there is a special place set aside for Joel and Ethan, if only because of the dialogue they give their actors to enjoy. George Clooney has spent the last few years turning in smart, controlled work, but this is the first time he’s been turned loose in a manic comedy, and he is a revelation. Looking like a seedier Clark Gable from IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT, he tackles every problem they encounter with a landslide of language, rich and eccentric and hysterical. His vanity about his hair, his fierce loyalty to Dapper Dan pomade, his joy at the sight of his daughters, his utter lack of alarm when Big Dan Teague (Goodman) goes nuts... these details all add up to a performance that can only be seen as defining. This is the kind of risk we always say we want our major movie stars to take, and Clooney seems fearless here. He’s not afraid to seem completely insane, relentlessly goofy, but he’s also able to be deeply sincere when the moment calls for it. That sort of control illustrates just how far he’s come as an actor, and just how far he’s willing to go. As much as I’m looking forward to the flawless cool of OCEAN’S ELEVEN, I sincerely hope CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND makes it through the development process with Clooney playing the CIA agent who recruits Chuck Barris. After seeing him here, I think he’s capable of anything.
Although Clooney is the obvious star of the film, he’s given incredible support across the board by everyone. John Turturro has been one of their best collaborators over the years, and it’s because he’s never the same twice. Pete Hogwallop is nothing like Jesus Quintana, the lascivious pederast bowler from LEBOWSKI, and neither of them could be mistaken for Bernie from MILLER’S CROSSING or Barton Fink himself. Turturro manages to rise to each new challenge the Coens throw down for him, and there’s a feral, barely controlled rage to the character he plays here that is both delightful and slightly terrifying. Tim Blake Nelson is a great find as Delmar, the dimmest bulb of the bunch. There are at least a half-dozen places in the film where a simple cut to the look on his face made me laugh out loud. John Goodman, Stephen Root, Charles Durning, and Michael Badalucco all do fine work in the picture, filling out this eccentric canvass with finely detailed work. There’s all sorts of moments of comic invention that leap off the screen at us, burning themselves into our memory as soon as we see them unfold. There’s a musical number involving the Klan that serves as a sort of bizarre bookend to the "Goin’ To Heaven On A Mule" number from WONDER BAR that I saw at BNAT. Now that I’ve seen blackface Heaven and the Klan doing choreographed dancing on a massive scale, I think it’s safe to say that nothing can shock or surprise me.
It’s a beautiful world these characters inhabit, too. This is the first scope film by Joel and Ethan, and Roger Deakins has worked with them to give the film a burnished, golden hue, like something remembered, like faded photographs in an album found in a forgotten corner in some antique store. I could literally turn the sound down and just look at this film, just watch it go by, and enjoy it purely on that level. That’s just gravy, of course. If the film didn’t deliver on all other fronts, all the polish in the world wouldn’t mean a thing. Having taken a little while to reflect on the movie, playing the soundtrack over and over in the process, I think I know what I took from the picture. To me, it’s a film about how the little things get us through. As Everett and the boys drift through this landscape of seemingly random circumstance and boundless sorrow, each of them holds on to certain images, certain dreams. For Everett, it’s the wife and daughters he left behind. For Pete, it’s the dream of a restaurant he owns, where the elite come to eat, where he’s the maitre’d and always has his meals for free. For Delmar, it’s the family farm. For the country at large, it’s the music they hear that gives them hope, that keeps them going even in the face of the Depression. Like Stanley Kubrick, the Coens have been accused of making cold films, but it’s not true. This film should finally silence those claims. There’s sun-dappled warmth to each and every frame of the thing, and it only seems to grow in my memory as I look back on it. Seek this one out when it opens wider in January. It’s as original and entertaining a film as you’ll see in a theater this or next year.
It’s just occurred me as I wrap this up that both Raimi and the Coens are veterans of the ‘80s indie explosion, all of them now firmly entrenched in the mainstream. It’s interesting to see how Raimi has folded his style into more conventional forms, while the Coen Bros. continue to create personal works of art that are like nothing else. That’s not to say that Raimi isn’t still vital and interesting; he is. He just seems to be courting a different level of acceptance than anything the Coens have ever attempted, and with Raimi now gearing up on SPIDER-MAN, he may be stepping up to a whole different level of success.
I’d like to close today by wishing each and every visitor to Ain’t It Cool News a happy holiday. I wake up each day thankful for the odd and amazing way my life has played out over the past three years, and you all have been part of that. I want to wish Harry and Jay Knowles a Merry Christmas and thank them for their friendship over these past few years. Roland, David, Paul, you guys are great partners, and there’s no one with whom I’d rather face 2001. I want to thank Scott for 15 years of creative collaboration, a mere drop in the bucket compared to what we’re going to accomplish. I want to thank Aaron and Sean for their continued support and tireless efforts. I want to thank Todd K. and Bryan M. for the time and the confidence they’ve invested into our joint creative ventures this year, and my Christmas gift to you is my vow that this year will reward those efforts in every possible way. All of my friends in my daily life are a blessing, and there’s too many of them to name here without leaving someone out. I won’t try, but instead will wish you all a thousand times the good fortune I’ve had since meeting you. Even at the advanced age of 230, I am fortunate enough to still have both parents, and although I’m not able to get back to the motherland for a visit, I know they visit me here, and I want to share this holiday with them. To all the filmmakers and publicists and actors and producers and animators and film technicians of every stripe that I’ve had the good fortune to deal with, you’ve all set a sterling example that will have to be lived up to by all those I deal with in the future, and I wish you peace in these final days of the year. To other webmasters like Garth Franklin, Nick Nunziata, Glen Oliver, and Den Shewman, you have all made me feel welcome in this still developing community of ours, and I thank you for that. To every person who’s sent me information or thoughts or just greetings over the past year, you have given me a remarkable gift, and there are hardly words enough to thank you. You are appreciated. I don’t consider what I do here to be my right or to be a job. I consider it a privilege. For this one day, for this one moment each year, I set aside all my nefarious doings, all my evil ways, and I genuinely wish nothing but well for anyone who has invested their time reading my words this year. This is all I’ve ever wanted to do, and without you, there wouldn’t be half the joy I’ve felt this season. I hope I can repay it in some small fashion. Right now, I'm out the door to go see CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON again, then try and find two or even three more movies for the afternoon and evening. I'll be back with those reviews in the morning. Until then...
"Moriarty" out.
