Yes Bread and Circus. The Hermit has a good eye for quality entertainment. The Hermit also knows when he's just witnessed a mound of trash being passed off as film, TV programming, literature or music. As I come across any entertainment I have an opinion on, I'll write about it here.
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A Serious Man
The beauty about so many Coen Bros films is that they seem to get better upon repeated viewings. A Serious Man would fall into that category. It's a bit of a personal film for them as it takes place in the late 60s in a mid-western town similar to where they grew up.
Now when making a film that takes place in the late 60's, lesser film makers would have used the same cliches and this film would be filled with nothing but Hippies and Woodstock images. But not the Coens, what we have is a slice of their adolescent years and a glimpse of middle-class life of the time as experienced through the Jewish-American community. No big war protest but instead a hapless man, struggling with life, dealing with modernity and all the usual trappings and pitfalls - pain in the ass neighbors, car accidents, bullies, bad mail-order deals and a rooftop tv antenna that gives trouble.
But Larry's biggest problem is his unsatisifed wife, who just matter of factly decides to leave him for a 'Serious Man'. Again in a lesser film, she would leave him for some hearthrob but here the charming cuckold-er (sp?) is a man by the name of Sy Abelman (played brilliantly by Fred Melamed). Sy is past middle age, balding, graying, overweight with glasses and can be seen wearing an acqua blue jump suit on his way to a round of golf, but the way the Coens wrote this character and the detail in the way the community is presented, the viewer really understands that in this circle, this guy is a freakin chick magnet. Not to mention what a wonderful performance he gives.
Then there are the Coen characters: the phlegm hacking attorney, the profanity inclined kid on the school bus, the Korean exchange student who expects to bribe his way to a good grade. The exchanges between the Korean exchange student, his dad and the protagonist are worth the rental alone. Then there's Larry's unemployed brother (the hysterical Richard Kind)- a mathematical genius, who spends half the day in the bathroom trying to take care of some skin condition but is making an effort to meet women at "Hillah House"
This is simply a fine and unique film. It may not be the rip-roaring fun that Big Lebowski or O' Brother are but it definitely is one of their better films and that's saying a lot as the Coens might be the finest film makers on the planet. Mazel tov!
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When I was a kid, I didn't fear the boogie man or keep a night light on to watch for monsters. However, UFOs and that Alien stuff scared me to pieces. Even today, I still get a little creeped out by the 'Grays' as they have become to be called. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm a rational man and I'm far from gullible. I need some empirical evidence if I'm going to start believing wild stories. Still, at the least I often find alien abduction stuff interesting and sometimes amusing. That's why I tried to watch this galactic-sized crap pile of a movie.
One of the main requirements for any movie to work is to establish suspension of disbelief. Without that, the viewer would hardly give a damn about anyone on screen. Well, this movie opens with Mila Jovovich telling us, "I'm Milla Jovovich, a professional actor(if you say so) playing the part of Abbey Tyler but the story is based on true events...." She goes on to tell us that she will be in the reenactments but 'real' footage will be included in the movie. There ya go - suspension of disbelief thrown out the window and now we have to take this as some sort of documentary.
One big problem though: There is no Abbey Tyler and the entire story is made-up. Even the supposedly 'real' footage is actually staged. It's not even believable as I found myself feeling insulted halfway through when they started showing this 'actual' footage. Who are the target audience for this tard fodder? It's an offense to yahoos, nuts and conspiracy theorists everywhere.
The result is a sort of Blair Witch of Close Encounters. However, the going back and forth between the reenactments and the fake 'real' footage just ruins the flow of any kind of suspense. The potential was there if they just presented it as fiction but this viral or guerilla marketing they did to promote this junk was really insulting and very misleading. I lost interest in it halfway through and just stayed tuned hoping that maybe we'd get a glimpse of Milla Jovovich's ass in some abduction scene.
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Since they first started a hundred years ago, filmmakers have shown human beings to be good creatures, if not God's creatures. Sure, there would be some bad people, the villains, usually broadly drawn and put on screen to counter the good and noble qualities of the film's protagonist. But the center of the film was always based on the seemingly innate knowledge that humans are basically good. The baddies, the troublemakers were an aberration. Even when it was a situation of a lot of baddies, it was usually because they were misled by some evil force. We humans are good deep down. We have our history, our society, our culture, our laws, our lofty ambition, our high ideals and our good hearts. And the most important thing of all: We love.
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Every Todd Solondz film I've seen so far spits directly on all this. He shows us what a farce it all is. What's most impressive is that he does it with characters and dialogue we recognize, not some far-fetched monsters. Everyone is full of shit. Upon watching a Solondz film, every viewer can't help but wonder, "Am I full of shit too?"
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Solonndz' latest film is a loose sequel to his 1998 masterpiece Happiness. Takes place about 10 years later but he didn't have any of the actors reprise their roles, probably for some artistic reason. Not that this cast isn't good. Shirley Henderson has a voice that can make the most passive man want to jump up, pull all his hair out of his head and run to the hills but it only reinforces the Joy character. Former Brat Packer, Ally Sheedy keeps her crazy eyes in check long enough to portray an Emmy-winning, self-important, man-eating bitch, Helen. We are even treated to a tormented and touching performance by Paul Ruebens. The entire cast did a fine job of delivering Todd Solondz' polite but brutal dialogue.
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Yes, polite brutality is the way I'd summarize the work of Todd Solondz. There's plenty of it here in Life During Wartime. However, I don't consider this his best work. It seemingly has all the elements but just isn't as memorable as Happiness or Storytelling. It might also be a little confusing to viewers who aren't paying full attention. Of course, the viewer wont be as confused as little Timmy, who asks in the film, "Are pedophiles terrorists?" His mom, while not directly answering that question does assure him, "Don't worry Timmy, you'll never be gay. I'll make sure you'll never be gay and nobody will never, ever put anything in you."
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V For Vendetta
I was a big fan of the 1980s film version of Orwell's classic cautionary tale 1984. So when I saw the trailers for this film I couldn't help but think, "Wow it looks like someone is trying to do something similar." Well, yes and no.
It does look a little like 1984. There's the imagery of the 'Party Leader' shouting at us through a large 2-way TV screen There's the theme of a secretive govt. spying on it's citizens and they even got portable Natalie Portman to shave her head like John Hurt did in 1984. Matter of fact, they got John Hurt to appear in this film as the 'Supreme Chancellor' or something like that. But that's pretty much where the similarities end.
Unlike 1984, the book or the film, V tries it's best to remain apolitical. You see, there are some clear cut bad guys here and of course a super cool knife throwing hero stylin' with a cool mask. The populace are subjugated and suppressed by a govt. that's bad cause there are a few bad mean men at the top. The story isn't about rhetoric or propaganda. It's about a handful of bad men and what they did to the hero V and how he's gonna get back at them.
So if you get 1984 and strip it of it's most thought provoking points and replace them with a dozen sleek fighting scenes and add a hot Natalie Portable running around showing off to everyone she can do a British accent, then you have V.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XKa8VE7ILI
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Extraordinary Machine
It wasn't hard for the marketing dept. to figure out a way to sell Fiona Apple when she was first signed over 10 years ago. She's remarkably pretty with piercing green-gray eyes that all the teenage boys would imagine are looking at them and she's got a tough, independent demeanor that all the girls would admire. And as a bonus, she can sing too.
Her first album Tidal was a big success and her follow up When the Pawn... also did well. In all fairness, yes she was easy to market but she put out some pretty good stuff too. Instead of trapping herself in any particular genre, she dabbled in various styles sounding more like she was trying to be truer to the song and emotion than preconceived musical boundaries.
Well it worked. What she put out was surprisingly radio friendly too. Sure by the late 90's we had already heard Alanis Morrisette confessions in front of guitars but Fiona seems more genuine and instead of doing it over guitars, she usually did it over piano which she would recklessly pound out herself. So, all well and good but the record company didn't count on one thing: She's nuttier than a fruitcake convention being held at the Bellvue cafeteria.
So after a 5 or 6 year wait over mood swings, press difficulties, a feud with the record label and recording and re-recording, we finally hear Extraordinary Machine. It's not as catchy as her previous work. It's a little more ambitious and not so hooky on the first listen but she does create something that is interesting and lasting. I don't know how she does it but she somehow convinces the listener she poured her heart out and sweat over every song. Sold.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjrLwUg0eAk
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The One Percent
Rich kid Jamie Johnson submits an 80 minute look at why the rich get richer and the poor get poor. Why that lousy Commie! What is he gonna say, some craziness like there is a system in place that helps the rich and affluent and leaves the rest of us behind? Commie Commie Commie! Crazy! Crazy! Crazy!
Johnson has a huge advantage though when it comes to this subject matter: He's on the inside. See Jamie Johnson is of the Johnson & Johnson family. If you ever took an aspirin, washed your face, brushed your teeth or masturbated with lube you've used their products and sent money their way. So he has access (for now) to people who know enough to avoid such topics. He makes them nervous though as soon as he mentions class. Not Free Market Fanatic Trickle Down Bullshit Master Milton Friedman though. As soon as Johnson presents some statistics or asks some questions, Friedman jumps up "Socialism Socialism!" Quick everyone, sound the alarms!
Gotta give the kid credit though. It takes guts to bite the hand that feeds you especially when it feeds you fillet mignon and champagne. Or maybe he just has enough foresight to see that if things get worse, his chauffeur, butler and private chef might not make it in to work someday.
http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/theonepercent/index.html
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The Coen brothers have been making quality films since the 80s. Some more memorable than others. So being that this film won all kinds of awards, you'd think this was some of their best work. Well, no. I wouldn't even say it's in my top 5 of Cohen bros. films.
The Coen bros. have this uncanny ability to set their stories in quirky little places in quirky little times with characters that speak in the vernaculars of such time and place and make it sound like the deepest poetry. But rip-roaring, fall on the floor laughing poetry. It sometimes seems that just about all of the characters that enter the screen must have their own interesting back story.
They create characters and dialogue that are hard to forget. A serial killer that likes to have pancakes for dinner, a penniless depression era chain-gang escapee who is completely loyal to one particular brand of pomade and new wave music, porn acting, Nihilists who are into blackmail, just to mention a few.
What we have with No Country For Old Men is more mainstream fare. It plays more like a traditional suspense thriller than a Coens movie. There are some Coenesque elements but their briefcase full of money and sociopathic serial killers theme was done better in films like Fargo and Barton Fink. That is not to say that this isn't a good film. It is but it just feels like a Coens film that is light on their own touch. Almost as if they tried to play it straight. Sure it works as a good suspense thriller but that's about it. For most filmmakers that's an accomplishment. That goes to show you how highly I think of their work.
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Judd Apatow came on the scene several years ago with Freaks and Geeks, an intelligent, thoughtful, funny look at the struggles of several teenagers and their dealing with the social cliques around them. Set in the early 80's, it was authentic and sometimes poignant. There was little comedy from actual punchlines, but instead, the laughs came from this spot-on look at the awkwardness of the age and the absurdity of the situation, the familiar youth is wasted on the young. Imagine John Hughes films, only with more bite and insight.
Well the ratings for Freaks and Geeks were poor and the network wasted little time dropping the show despite huge support from critics and a loyal (however small) fan base. Judd Apatow created something of quality and he was rewarded with a quick cancellation.
It seems now, Apatow is making an effort to not make the mistake of producing work that will not be instantly profitable. Recently caught his films Superbad and Knocked Up. Superbad, the better of the two, did have it's moments, but it was clear Apatow has taken a different approach, painting with broader strokes and going for quicker, wider humor than before. This stuff, though also aimed at young adults, is more like a new generation of teen-raunch-fests. Superbad could be the sensitive grandchild of the original Porky's or the smart nephew of American Pie.
For Knocked Up, Apatow relies even more on the standard main-stream cliches and is sunk even deeper in Hollywood entrapment. They even got a bonafide model to play the romantic lead to the "Loser who makes good."
This stuff isn't bad. It's just that Apatow has shown us he can do better. He doesn't need dick jokes. He also doesn't need to be repeating himself though that seems to be what he's doing with these two films. Oh well, at least these films are box office successes. Maybe after a few more successes, he will be wealthy enough and have enough security that he can put out stuff of real quality again.
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The title Black Snake Moan sounds more like the porn spoof of a mainstream film rather than the actual title. Unfortunately, the story of this mess of a film is about as good as the plot to Deep Throat Gaggers Volume 4. This film is basically diveded into two parts. The first half is bulbus headed pixie slut, Christina Ricci running around in nothing but the tiniest panties. The second half is Sam Jackson and Ricci trying to convince her boyfriend, played by walking talking Human Pantywaste Justin Timberlake, that they can work things out. Guess which half the Hermit preferred?
Well, despite the provocative title, there is very little to moan about and that black snake has nothing to do with whatever Sam Jackson has in his briefs. Instead we get some sloppy, ill-conceived story about an old bluesman who thinks a young woman's destructive behavior might be due to some kind of mystical craving or some other such nonsense. The story makes little sense, isn't interesting and the drama unintentionally turns comical when the characters try to work through their issues by singing old Mississippi style blues. Samuel Jackson is one of the Hermit's favorite actors but must he accept every single peice of crap role thrown his way?
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Top Five Horror Movies
5) The Birds
A truly frightening premise, you take something seemingly benign, like the birds which hover around us and float around the sky, and turn them into a lethal, brutal menace. Hitchcock takes the ordinarily serene and tranquil backdrop of birds on a wire and makes it into something disturbing, something to fear.
4) Misery
As you get older and wiser you start to realize the most ominous threats are often delivered in a cheerful manner and pleasant tone. That's why this film works so well. Kathy Bates has James Caan in the palm of her hand to do with as she pleases. She will decide if he lives or dies and makes the decision in much the same manner she would in choosing a loaf of bread. Oww! My ankles!
3) Don't Be Afraid of the Dark
Yes I did see this as a kid so maybe it might seem a little silly or weak for an adult. But those little fucks in the bottom of the house spooked me pretty good back then. This film uses the classic and effective 'I can see them and nobody believes me' theme. The director builds suspense by not showing too much. It works best as we only get a glimpse of what's lurking in the basement.
2) The Exorcist
Widely regarded as one of the best horror films and I have to agree. Poor sweet, little, innocent Linda Blair pukes out pea soup for days and has to be tied down to her shaking bed in her freezing bedroom. This film is almost as frightening as what happened to Blair's career afterward as she only found work in the cheesiest 80's, B-movie, sexploitation trash like Chained Heat and Savage Streets.
1) From Justin to Kelly
May the lord have mercy on anyone with the misfortune of having to sit through this garbage. This is a real horror movie. It's hard to think of anything more frightening than having to watch this stinkbomb of a film all the way through. I got stuck watching this one day a few years ago babysitting my 11 year old niece. It was a rainy Saturday afternoon and this is how she wanted to spend it. It was a brutal 90 minutes.
Basically, it's a musical about teenagers on spring or summer break. Imagine Grease, take out the nostalgia, the kitschy charm, the strong performances, the catchy tunes and then take what you have left........and give that a lobotomy and you have From Justin to Kelly.
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Got a chance to reread some of Marvin Harris' work recently and was reminded just how brilliant he is and how well he is able to convey some of the basic (as well as some more advanced) concepts in Cultural Anthropology in a way that is both enlightening and entertaining. As you read through, you find yourself thinking, "oh that is so obvious, why haven't I thought about it like that before?" If you have any interest in the social sciences or if you are just a curious 'I wonder why' person, then you will enjoy it.
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Popular music today basically sucks donkey balls. I'm convinced these kids today are dead on the inside. Off With Their Heads is the Kaiser Chiefs 3rd album. Their single, Never Miss a Beat is one of the most infectious things I've ever heard. The rest of the album seems to have a Talking Heads meets Weezer soaked in keyboards quality to it. Not the greatest thing ever but there is some potential here.
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I don't know why I watch some of this stuff. I guess I was thinking it might be like the original Saw but it's just a violence orgy without much of a plot. It's telling of our society that a film like this where there is a graphic scene in which some guy gets his dick ripped off and fed to a dog is carried by all the major retailers but a video where people are having sex would not. I'm not for any kind of censorship but I do find it curious as to what ticks some people off.
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Sci-Fi Subtext Theater
I noticed that the film "Transformers 2 Revenge of the Fallen" grossed several hundred million dollars and will be the biggest film of the Summer. As a kid, I thought the idea of "Transformers" was silly and childish even for a 9-year old. However I understood how it could work as a toy. Then the cartoon series, well I could see it as a vehicle for selling these toys. But as a major motion picture? You're kiddin me? I know Summer is traditionally the time for the mindless, fluff, candy movie experience but this stuff seems like it was made for brain-damaged children who can't appreciate the 'high concept art' of Indiana Jones or Star Wars. Compared to this, E.T. was freakin Shakespeare.
Forget that metallic heap of crap. It got me thinking a little about the Sci-Fi genre There was a time when heavy-handed censors pushed any kind of political meaning or thought down and filmmakers got their meaning across with strong subtext. Think Cold War era War of the Worlds or the nuclear age anxiety of The Day the Earth Stood Still. Well the Sci-Fi genre has continued that tradition and you can find some interesting subtext in Sci-Fi from the small budget quirky shorts to the biggest, loudest, most explosive blockbusters. Let's look at a few.
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Independence Day
The big mean aliens show up and just wanna wreak havoc. No motive, no pretext, aliens are baddies. Almost all humans are destroyed but thanks to a few tough guys lead by the handsome, wonderful, kind, loving President of the USA, we survive and beat those big mean aliens.
What we learn
To stop questioning authority cause they are the heroes. The humans were able to beat the aliens with the help of a scientific program funded by the Pentagon on one of the captured spaceships from decades ago. "You don't think it costs $200 for a hammer, do you?" says one of the top officials as the President asked how such a program was paid for. See? There is a good reason why the U.S, spends more than the rest of the world combined on it's military. It's for our own good silly. It has nothing to do with political insiders being heavily invested in companies that profit handsomely from weapons production. And the less we know about it, the better.
We also learn to stop thinking about silly little problems. For example, Jeff Goldblum says while pointing at a recycling pail full of cans, "And I thought these were gonna kill us." Yes, it's dumb to worry about polluting the planet and making it uninhabitable when the Aliens will come and destroy it anyway.
The Message
With the help of great, rugged individuals, an unaccountable government and a wildly out of control military-industrial complex, we will be safe.
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The Arrival
Charlie Sheen takes a break from expensive escorts, baseball and poker games to look for intelligent life on other planets. Everyone around him says he's wasting his time and potential and should work on a 'real' career. We know different though as the aliens have insidiously planted themselves in our society and are causing global warming cause "they like it hot."
What we learn
The aliens get away with so much because an apolitical, unengaged population make it easy for them to do so. Where are the aliens terra-forming plants? They're in unregulated third world countries where U.S businesses can do as they please. The aliens are firmly embedded in powerful multi-national corporations. One of the top aliens says, "We're just speeding up what you people are doing already." What do the aliens really dislike? "People that can think laterally" are those that the aliens try to weed out or discredit.
The Message
The bad guys are here. But they're not gonna point a gun at us. Instead our demise will be met because of our great apathy. To stand a fighting chance we have to be able to think critically and hold business accountable for the mess they're making.
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Signs
Mel Gibson, a former minister who lost faith and became distraught over the recent death of his wife discovers crop circles on the field by his house. When the bad aliens come, they survive cause of the little "signs" that were there to read all along.
What we learn
Well, first we learn that some aliens aren't particularly bright. These guys master space travel and somehow get by Einstein's physical laws of traveling faster than the speed of light, but are totally stumped when encountering a locked wooden door. We also learn that these aliens are poor planners as it probably wouldn't be a good idea to go to a planet that is 75% water if water kills you!
But ultimately this movie is about faith and submission. See, it turns out the nonsense Mel Gibson's wife was uttering after being hit by that car was the key to protecting their son against the alien invaders. Also the fact that the youngest daughter was going nuts, displaying "signs" of mental illness by leaving half empty glasses of water all over the house was a good thing as well. No, let's not inquire about the conditions that lead to a fatal car accident. It was a good thing.
The Message
Accept everything. It's God's will and he knows best. If you are good, docile sheep, you will be saved.
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They Live
Roddy Piper, a down on his luck laborer who just never seemed to get that break, discovers that the fight might indeed be fixed as the glasses he finds allow him to see the world as it really is. It might not be a good example of subtext as the point is loud and clear.
What we learn
Piper is an honest, hard-working man and gets shit on for it. With the glasses on, he sees the ruling elite are in fact space aliens who plant subliminal messages in the media telling us to "consume" "obey" "conform" etc. He also discovers that many humans are knowingly complicit in enforcing this bit of a class system. One human cooperator admits it and defends his actions, "Hey we all want a taste of the good life."
The Message
Yes there is a class system. Yes the media influence you to the benefit of the elite that use the majority of the population to their own gluttonous benefit. The full title of the film is 'They Live, We Sleep.' This film was made in response to the brutal Reaganomics of the time but it was before most of the massive media consolidation of the past two decades which makes it all the more poignant.
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Some more recent movies reviews from the Hermit
This 2008 remake of the classic The Day the Earth Stood Still is quite the accomplishment. They took the premise of a proven classic, redone it with a huge budget and still managed to make a film that is utterly forgettable. They took the original title and nothing else. There is no coherent plot and the dialogue painfully empty. And who would have thought that Keanu Reeves couldn't even muster up enough emotion to play an emotionless alien with any effectiveness. The man who fell from space? More like a block of wood that fell from the lumberyard. This truly is a movie that offers nothing to anyone. There isn't even a shot of Jennifer Connelly's anorexic skank ass.
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Another failed remake. While the original Pelham 123 relied on interesting characters, clever pacing and sharp performances, this pile of celluloid vomit just uses old, worn cliches to try to build suspense. Oh wow, this scene is in fast motion and there are images of a clock ticking therefore something exciting mus be happening!
And another thing, I wish they would stop casting John Travolta in these psychotic villain roles. It doesn't work. In his next movie, he better fucking dance. Tony I love to watch you dance. Tony I looooove to watch you dance!
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Jumper is another interesting premise gone to waste. Who wouldn't want to be able to go anywhere, anytime? But this is just another case of style over substance. They allude to an interesting back story but focus on special effects instead. This is another big role for Hayden Christiansen and the more I see this guy, the more I just want to smack him. Kudos though to the hair and wardrobe dept. for the nice job they did with Samuel Jackson's head. This is his best hairdo since Unbreakable.
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This latest version of the great Richard Matheson's I Am Legend fails as a telling of the original clever, insightful, thought-provoking novel but it's still watchable as standard, mindless Hollywood entertainment. By the way, nothing against Steven King, but he can lick the great Matheson's gray, low-hanging, old man nuts.
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The Grand was a pleasant surprise. Even if you're not a big fan of poker, you will probably still find this mockumentary amusing. A great cast mixing rip-roaring cartoonish characters with some great subtle humor as well.
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