Thursday, January 20, 2011
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
True Grit
Film: True Grit
Director: Ethan and Joel Coen
Country: USA
True Grit is a surprisingly simple idea coming from the Coens. It's a remake of an old John Wayne movie which focuses on the little girl instead of the old grizzled marshal. The story is pretty basic Western story. A thirteen year old girl Mattie's father is murdered by a man Tom Chaney they had taken in. She goes out looking for revenge, and hires Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) to kill him. While in town she runs into La Boeuf, a Texas Ranger who's also after Chaney, but he's after him for crimes he committed in Texas. Mattie wants to come along on the hunt for Chaney. Cogburn at first wants to leave her behind thinking she didn't have the toughness to survive in Indian country, but he's convinced by her perserverence in following him that she is.
I usually like Westerns but I found myself bored for this one. The story goes through the motions of a movie that might have been made in the 40s through 60s, but it's got a tone of artificiality through it that blunts the impact. It's not as fun as the old Westerns it replicates, and it's not as intellectually interesting as other Coen movies. The characterization feels a little heavy handed and a little manipulative. They try a little too hard to endear you to Mattie's toughness, having her dominate a negotiation for the return of some horses her father bought, threatening to sue him. You can tell from the beginning that Rooster and La Boeuf are going to come to the same conclusion we're obviously supposed to from the first time we see her: That the little girl is endearingly tough. I'm usually a fan of the Coens, but this style of plot doesn't suit their style of directing.
Style: 6
Substance: 4
Overall: 5
Accessibility: 7
Director: Ethan and Joel Coen
Country: USA
True Grit is a surprisingly simple idea coming from the Coens. It's a remake of an old John Wayne movie which focuses on the little girl instead of the old grizzled marshal. The story is pretty basic Western story. A thirteen year old girl Mattie's father is murdered by a man Tom Chaney they had taken in. She goes out looking for revenge, and hires Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) to kill him. While in town she runs into La Boeuf, a Texas Ranger who's also after Chaney, but he's after him for crimes he committed in Texas. Mattie wants to come along on the hunt for Chaney. Cogburn at first wants to leave her behind thinking she didn't have the toughness to survive in Indian country, but he's convinced by her perserverence in following him that she is.
I usually like Westerns but I found myself bored for this one. The story goes through the motions of a movie that might have been made in the 40s through 60s, but it's got a tone of artificiality through it that blunts the impact. It's not as fun as the old Westerns it replicates, and it's not as intellectually interesting as other Coen movies. The characterization feels a little heavy handed and a little manipulative. They try a little too hard to endear you to Mattie's toughness, having her dominate a negotiation for the return of some horses her father bought, threatening to sue him. You can tell from the beginning that Rooster and La Boeuf are going to come to the same conclusion we're obviously supposed to from the first time we see her: That the little girl is endearingly tough. I'm usually a fan of the Coens, but this style of plot doesn't suit their style of directing.
Style: 6
Substance: 4
Overall: 5
Accessibility: 7
Robyn - Body Talk
Robyn - Body Talk
At the beginning of the year, Swedish pop star Robyn announced her new album Body Talk would be released over three parts. What she didn't mention at the time was that the first two would be EPs and the third would be a superset of all the better tracks from the first two. If she were an American pop star she'd probably be accused of a sleazy cash grabbing ploy. I don't know why she neglected to mention earlier that most of the songs on Body Talk parts 1 and 2 would also be on the third part, and I kind of want my money back for the first two. The whole is definitely better than the sum of it's parts. At this point, now that all three parts are out, the only one you need is the third part.
Robyn seems to have two modes. The first is very melodic dance pop, sort of like a more emotionally mature version of what Madonna was doing in the 80s. Her songs in this style tend to be about relationships and the longing for them. In 'Dancing On My Own', Robyn watches a man she loves with somebody else and wishes he would notice her. Other songs instruct a man how to soften the blow when he breaks up with his current girlfriend and tell a man that although she wants a close intimate friendship, if he falls in love with her she will hurt him. The second style Robyn uses has a heavier beat and more hip hop style, and lyrics about dancing in clubs and boasting about how tough she is. In one song which contains the lryics 'Even the C.I.A. knows better than to f*** with me', Snoop Dogg appears. Other songs of this style talk about dancing in clubs and partying.
Body Talk part one contained mostly songs of the more hip hop oriented style, and part two contained mostly songs of the more dance pop oriented style. The third release spreads them out more evenly, which gives it more variety and changes of pace. With more variety it is a far better listen from front to back. Althogh her style is similar to the style of the songs on mainstream airwaves, it's so much better written and produced you can't even make a real comparison. If you like the musical style of pop music, but think the artistic standards of American Idol style pop are too low, you should definitely hear Body Talk.
Technical skill: 6
Songwriting: 9
Overall: 9
At the beginning of the year, Swedish pop star Robyn announced her new album Body Talk would be released over three parts. What she didn't mention at the time was that the first two would be EPs and the third would be a superset of all the better tracks from the first two. If she were an American pop star she'd probably be accused of a sleazy cash grabbing ploy. I don't know why she neglected to mention earlier that most of the songs on Body Talk parts 1 and 2 would also be on the third part, and I kind of want my money back for the first two. The whole is definitely better than the sum of it's parts. At this point, now that all three parts are out, the only one you need is the third part.
Robyn seems to have two modes. The first is very melodic dance pop, sort of like a more emotionally mature version of what Madonna was doing in the 80s. Her songs in this style tend to be about relationships and the longing for them. In 'Dancing On My Own', Robyn watches a man she loves with somebody else and wishes he would notice her. Other songs instruct a man how to soften the blow when he breaks up with his current girlfriend and tell a man that although she wants a close intimate friendship, if he falls in love with her she will hurt him. The second style Robyn uses has a heavier beat and more hip hop style, and lyrics about dancing in clubs and boasting about how tough she is. In one song which contains the lryics 'Even the C.I.A. knows better than to f*** with me', Snoop Dogg appears. Other songs of this style talk about dancing in clubs and partying.
Body Talk part one contained mostly songs of the more hip hop oriented style, and part two contained mostly songs of the more dance pop oriented style. The third release spreads them out more evenly, which gives it more variety and changes of pace. With more variety it is a far better listen from front to back. Althogh her style is similar to the style of the songs on mainstream airwaves, it's so much better written and produced you can't even make a real comparison. If you like the musical style of pop music, but think the artistic standards of American Idol style pop are too low, you should definitely hear Body Talk.
Technical skill: 6
Songwriting: 9
Overall: 9
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Rabbit Hole
Film: Rabbit Hole
Director: John Cameron Mitchell
Counry: USA
Rabbit Hole is a very performance driven movie starring Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart as the parents of a four year old child who was killed eight months prior to the fim, chasing his dog into the street. The film follows the expected course: The two have very different grieving styles that lead to a major blowout, then toward the end they find small ways to start to cope. In this case, due to the emotional nature of the subject matter, it's good that the plot doesn't deviate much from expectations, because it lets the strength of the performances drive the movie.
The movie opens softly, without telling you directly that the couple has lost a child. You see Becca (Kidman) acting antisocial to the neighbors without explanation. The film reveals what happened indirectly, when one of Howie's (Eckhart) friends suggests they have another child. This way, you see the couple as others perceive them without the insider knowledge. The two deal with their grief in very different ways which come into conflict. Howie wants to keep the constant presence of their son in the house, whereas Becca can't deal with that and wants to get rid of all the pictures, all the toys, and everything that constantly reminds her of him. They start out going to group counseling sessions. Howie wants to be social with the group, whereas Becca can't deal with all the religion talk that comes up. Becca wants to sell the house, Howie doesn't want to. Howie wants to start having sex again, Becca doesn't want to. All of these tensions threaten to break up their marriage (As often does happen after the loss of a child.)
The other major player of the film is the driver of the car who killed their child. He's a teenager who's about to leave for college. Becca spots him on a school bus and follows him. Later they meet at the park and talk. It's interesting the way they express this relationship. They talk existentially and get at the accident mostly indirectly. He goes on with his life and lives it like a normal teenager, but you can tell how crushed inside he is that he killed somebody. He talks in a way that makes it obvious that he's played the incident over in his head a million times, looking for any way he could have prevented the accident. You end up not feeling any anger or malice toward him, even though he's the one responsible for tearing apart Becca and Howie's lives.
The strength of the film, other than the great performances given by Kidman and Eckhart, is the way they address their very mundane subject matter. Whereas other films would be tempted to get melodramatic and have characters calling each other out on everything they've ever done, or swearing revenge on the driver of the car, Rabbit Hole expresses emotions in a way that's indirect but still very emotionally imminent. Becca and Howie have the constant presence of their grief, but they're also constantly aware of the pressure to express that grief in a socially acceptable way. They've both got their own emotional minefields, and will behave normally most of the time, then lash out whenever one of those mines is stepped on. But they're not angry at the person, they're just still devastated. The people who receive this anger try their best to be understanding and not taking it personally, but at the same time, are hurt like any regular person would be.
Rabbit Hole is the sort of film which, instead of trying to do something new and original, does something very mundane in a very nuanced way, and then steps back and lets the actors drive the film, making it one of the better films to come out in the year.
Style: 7
Substance: 9
Overall: 8
Accessibility: 8
Director: John Cameron Mitchell
Counry: USA
Rabbit Hole is a very performance driven movie starring Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart as the parents of a four year old child who was killed eight months prior to the fim, chasing his dog into the street. The film follows the expected course: The two have very different grieving styles that lead to a major blowout, then toward the end they find small ways to start to cope. In this case, due to the emotional nature of the subject matter, it's good that the plot doesn't deviate much from expectations, because it lets the strength of the performances drive the movie.
The movie opens softly, without telling you directly that the couple has lost a child. You see Becca (Kidman) acting antisocial to the neighbors without explanation. The film reveals what happened indirectly, when one of Howie's (Eckhart) friends suggests they have another child. This way, you see the couple as others perceive them without the insider knowledge. The two deal with their grief in very different ways which come into conflict. Howie wants to keep the constant presence of their son in the house, whereas Becca can't deal with that and wants to get rid of all the pictures, all the toys, and everything that constantly reminds her of him. They start out going to group counseling sessions. Howie wants to be social with the group, whereas Becca can't deal with all the religion talk that comes up. Becca wants to sell the house, Howie doesn't want to. Howie wants to start having sex again, Becca doesn't want to. All of these tensions threaten to break up their marriage (As often does happen after the loss of a child.)
The other major player of the film is the driver of the car who killed their child. He's a teenager who's about to leave for college. Becca spots him on a school bus and follows him. Later they meet at the park and talk. It's interesting the way they express this relationship. They talk existentially and get at the accident mostly indirectly. He goes on with his life and lives it like a normal teenager, but you can tell how crushed inside he is that he killed somebody. He talks in a way that makes it obvious that he's played the incident over in his head a million times, looking for any way he could have prevented the accident. You end up not feeling any anger or malice toward him, even though he's the one responsible for tearing apart Becca and Howie's lives.
The strength of the film, other than the great performances given by Kidman and Eckhart, is the way they address their very mundane subject matter. Whereas other films would be tempted to get melodramatic and have characters calling each other out on everything they've ever done, or swearing revenge on the driver of the car, Rabbit Hole expresses emotions in a way that's indirect but still very emotionally imminent. Becca and Howie have the constant presence of their grief, but they're also constantly aware of the pressure to express that grief in a socially acceptable way. They've both got their own emotional minefields, and will behave normally most of the time, then lash out whenever one of those mines is stepped on. But they're not angry at the person, they're just still devastated. The people who receive this anger try their best to be understanding and not taking it personally, but at the same time, are hurt like any regular person would be.
Rabbit Hole is the sort of film which, instead of trying to do something new and original, does something very mundane in a very nuanced way, and then steps back and lets the actors drive the film, making it one of the better films to come out in the year.
Style: 7
Substance: 9
Overall: 8
Accessibility: 8
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)