Taking Woodstock

I thoroughly enjoyed Ang Lee's new film Taking Woodstock. It is based on a true story. Of course, everyone knows the story of the Woodstock concert back in 1969. But what we didn't know was how it all came to being.

Elliot Teichberg (Demitri Martin) works for his parents in a White Lake Motel. He is a creative person and would rather be doing something else. But he feels obligated to help them. Jake (Henry Goodman) and Sonia (Imelda Staunton) are Russian Jewish immigrants. Jake is a quiet type but Sonia is ball of fire. The motel is facing foreclosure. Elliot is a leader in the community. When he finds out about the Woodstock and the fact that it cannot be held in Woodstock his wheels turn. Unfortunately, the concert cannot be held on the Teichberg's property. But Max Yasgur (Eugene Levy) has a huge farm and Elliot convinces Max to let the concert take place there. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Although we don't see footage from the concert we get a real feel of what happened there. And we see Elliot grow and become his own man. As I said before, Lee does a great job with recreating the era. He has help from his James Schamus, who wrote the screenplay based on the real Elliot Tiber's book. And Eric Gautier's cinematography is just outstanding. All of the above mentioned actors are wonderful as is Liev Schreiber as Vilma, a drag queen security person.

I didn't make it to Woodstock but this was my time. And that time was better than this time. So if you are of a certain generation (although you don't have to be) get our your tie dyed shirt and your peace symbol and head over to your local movie theater and see Taking Woodstock.

DVD Mini Review - Duplicity

I missed Duplicity when it played in theaters a few months ago. It would have been nice to see it on the big screen it does work well on DVD.

Ray Koval (Clive Owen) and Claire Stenwick (Julia Roberts) seem to have a love/hate relationship. They are always trying to game each other. Or are they? They are also a couple. They have a plan to get rich. They decide to work with rival drug companies who are both looking for their next big drug. But things are more complicated than they seem.

Some people said that they were confused while watching the film. It does go back and forth in time and place quite a bit. But I didn't find it hard to follow. You just have to pay attention to what is happening. In fact, I really enjoyed the film.

Tony Gilroy wrote and directed a smart film for adults. And while not as good as Michael Clayton it is good. Roberts and Owen have terrific chemistry. And Paul Giamatti and Tim Wilkinson are great as the rival drug company czars. Add in a wonderful Kathleen Chalfont too.

Duplicity held my interest throughout its two hour. If you haven't seen this film then by all means rent it.

The Education of Fairies (MOD)

The Education of Fairies is a beautiful film written and directed by Jose Luis Cuerda. It is all about life and love.

When Nicolas (Ricardo Darin) spots Ingrid (Irene Jacob) and her son Raul (Victor Valdivia) on a plane he immediately falls in love with both of them. And they feel the same about him. But as in real life things are not so simple. A supermarket cashier name Sezar (Bebe) also plays a significant role in the film.

All of the acting is wonderful and I very much enjoyed the story. The only problem is that the film was never released theatrically in the US and it isn't even listed on Netflix and possibly coming out. What a shame. If you have Time Warner Cable you can see it on Channel 800 - the Spanish on demand channel. Everyone else will have to wait until it is either on cable or on DVD. I hope the wait is not too long.

Inglourious Basterds & Cold Souls

A few words about two films that I saw in the theater during the last two days.

It is fair to say that Inglorious Basterds is Quentin Tarantino's best film since Pulp Fiction. His revenge fantasy hits all the right notes. The film is broken down into chapters. The first chapter is utterly brilliant. It revolves around a French farmer who is hiding Jews and Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz) a Nazi officer who is known at the "Jew hunter." The rest of the film is just as good.

Brad Pitt plays Lt. Aldo Raine, an American who is putting together a group of Jewish soldiers known as "The Basterds." Their purpose is to kill Nazis. This is part of the revenge tale. The other part revolves around a woman named Shoshana (Melanie Laurent) who saw her family killed in front of her. She was the only one who escaped. Melanie now owns a cinema in Paris. And she, too, is bent on revenge.

I will not say more about the plot. Most critics like to give things away. I do not (of course I am not a professional critic. I just like to write a bit about film). But I can say that the film is two and a half hours and it doesn't feel like it at all.

Tarantino has done an amazing job of directing his film and his screenplay is smart as a whip. All of the acting is spot on. Pitt is very good as Raine. He keeps on proving that he is a real actor and not just a movie star. The above mentioned Laurent is wonderful and Eli Roth, Michael Fassbender, Diane Kruger and Daniel Bruhl are all terrific. But the best of the bunch is Waltz. He is in his 50s so where has he been hiding all of this time. I think that Inglourious Basterds has a shot at some Oscar nominations come next year. But I have to say that Waltz will almost definitely get a nod for best supporting actor (and maybe even a win).

P.S. - I loved that Tarantino had the actors actually speak in their own languages - French, German and a bit of Italian. Perhaps the masses will see that reading subtitles in not such a hard thing.

Cold Souls is a much smaller film. It was written and directed by Sophie Barthes and it stars Paul Giamatti as himself. Paul is an actor (yes he is) and he is rehearsing for a stage version of Uncle Vanya. Paul is frustrated with the way things are going. He reads an article in the New Yorker about removing his soul. He decides to investigate because he wants to feel lighter. He meets with Dr. Flintstein (David Strathairn), who is the soul remover. The good doctor is quite convincing. All goes well with the removal. But a short time later Paul starts having problems.

Again, I will not say more about the plot. Cold Souls is a comedy for sure. There were a good number of times that I laughed. But it also says something about our souls - without talking about religion. We need our souls because they are our essence.

Ms. Barthes work is quite impressive. Giamatti is wonderful as always and I really like Strathairn too. Diane Korzun as Nina, the mule brings in souls from Russia, is also very good. Emily Watson, who plays Paul's wife Claire is good in a limited role.

So go out and see these films and help support great cinema!

Julia (DVD) and The Cove

I am going to say a (very) few words on two movies I just saw. I wish I had more time to spend on the reviews but I just don't.

Julia came out in theaters earlier this year. It had a very limited release and didn't play in theaters very long. I wanted to see it in a theater but couldn't make it. I have to say that it plays well on the small screen.

Julia (Tilda Swinton) is an alcoholic woman who has no direction in life. She can't hold down a job. She goes from bar to bar and from man to man. Mitch (Saul Rubinek) is her friend and he tries to help her but it seems like a lost cause. One day while attending an AA meeting she meets a woman named Elena (Kate del Castillo) who wants her to help kidnap Elena's son Tom (Aidan Gould). At first Julia refuses but the offer of money is just too tempting and Julia gives in.

What follows is quite suspenseful and you never know how things are going to turn out. The story keeps you guessing until the end. The film is directed by Erick Zoncka (The Dreamlife of Angels). He does a good job of directing but once in a while the pacing lags. I think that the film could be a bit shorter and the editing tightened up. But it is very worth while seeing because of Swinton's amazing performance. She is in almost every scene and her appearance changes depending upon her mood. It is a very nuanced performance. Despite the fact that she is a very unlikable character I couldn't take my eyes off of her. The supporting cast (especially young Gould) is also very good. Check it out on DVD.

I saw Louie Psihoyos The Cove in the theater. I was hoping the film would get a wider release but it isn't. I guess a lot of people have problems seeing a film about dolphin slaughter in Japan. It is hard to take but the beautifully made film is important and I do hope that more people see it.

Richard (Ric) O'Barry is the main person in the film. He is responsible for the hit television program Flipper. He feels very responsible for what has happened to dolphins since the show is on. Seaworld and its ilk are very bad for dolphins and promote dolphin slaughter. Dolphins are not meant to be in captivity. They are meant to be free. Among others interviewed are Paul Watson and Roger Payne.

O'Barry, Psihoyos and others go to Japan to expose a cove where 23,000 dolphins a year are slaughtered. They risk their lives to do this. And, yet, when they interview the average Japanese person he/she knows nothing about this.

They sell the meat and tell people that it is whale meat. The truth of the matter is that the dolphin meat is very high in mercury and very dangerous to humans. I didn't know this. So besides performing acts of animals cruelty these people are endangering the health and lives of their fellow citizens.

I urge you see this film. And be prepared to cry - I did. If you can't make it the theater then rent it when it comes out on DVD. AND PLEASE DO NOT PATRONIZE SEA WORLD OR OTHER THEME PARKS OF THAT TYPE. AND PLEASE DO NOT TAKE ANY VACATIONS WHERE YOU SWIM WITH THE DOLPHINS. The dolphins and I will thank you for that.

Lorna's Silence & Adam

A few (very few)words on the two films I saw today. First was the terrific new film by the talented Dardenne brothers Luc and Jean-Pierre. The story takes place in Belgium (of course) and involves a young Albanian woman Lorna (Arta Dubrushi). Lorna is married to a junkie named Claudy (Jeremie Renier). She married him to get into the country. Lorna is involved in a ring that gets people into the country and finds ways for them to stay. She is about to become a Belgian citizen and that makes her all the more valuable.

I will not tell you more of the story line but I can say that the film is quite suspenseful. Both Dubrushi and Renier are wonderful in their roles and the rest of the cast is spot on. I have been a fan of the Dardenne Brothers for quite some time and I am glad that I can see their films here. I hope other people will come out to see this little gem of a film.

Adam is a bittersweet love story. Adam (Hugh Dancy) has Aspergers Syndrome. He is a very high functioning. He has no friends except for Harlan (Freddie Faison) who was a friend of Adam's late father. One day he meets his new neighbor Beth (Rose Byrne) and slowly but surely they get to know one another and fall in love. However, Adam's way of loving is not the same way as most people's. It is not easy to have a relationship with a person with AS.

Adam is a nice little film and Dancy is very convincing in the title role. Byrne also turns in a good performance as does Faison. Peter Gallagher and Amy Irving play Beth's parents. The film was written and directed by Max Mayer and is good way to pass time on a hot summer afternoon.

DVD Mini Review - Last Year at Marienbad

I never saw this classic Alan Resnais so when I found out that it was coming out on DVD I was quite excited. I loved Hiroshima mon amour.

Last Year at Marienbad is a beautifully shot, fascinating film. But there is something quite pretentious about it.

A man and woman meet at a fancy hotel. He claims that they had an affair the previous year. She claims that she never met him. He goes back in time and tells her what happened the previous year. She denies that this ever happened. He claims that they are supposed to go away together. Added into the mix is her "husband."

Is this real? Is this a fantasy? Is it a mixture of both? Who knows. The dreamlike quality of the film is beautiful to look at. But there is an emotional element missing here. One review I read compared it to Bergman's Persona. I can't get over that comment. Persona is one of the greatest films ever made (not to mention the fantastic acting by the two actresses). Last Year at Marienbad is an interesting film but not the masterpiece that some think it is. Oh, yes, anyone into cinema should see it. I can see how it was quite groundbreaking at the time. But it just didn't grab me.

Julie & Julia

Nora Ephron's latest film Julie & Julia is a quite entertaining one. Although far from a great film it was never boring is well worth seeing.

The film is based on two books and tells two stories. The first one is about Julia Child (Meryl Streep) who is living in Paris in the 40s with her husband Paul (Stanley Tucci) who is on assignment there. Julia does not want to be a bored housewife. While trying to find her passion she takes her love of eating one step further. She enrolls in the Le Corden Bleu school for chefs. She is the only woman in the class. She is not taken seriously and is told that she doesn't have a talent for cooking. But we know better because as they say the rest is history.

The other story is about another bored woman. Julie Powell (Amy Adams) works in a center that helps people deal with 9/11. I would have thought that she would find that fulfilling. But she doesn't because it seems that most people are rude to her. She is a writer and longs to go back to writing. She lives in Queens with her husband Eric (Chris Messina) and their cat. One day she decides to start a blog and challenges herself to cook all 524 recipes in one of Julia's cookbooks in a year. And she makes blog entries as she goes along. And in this story, too, the rest is history.

Adams and Messina are both good in their roles. And I found Julie's story actually more interesting than I thought I would. But the film really belongs to Streep and Tucci. Streep is just marvelous as Julia. The voice is just right. And Tucci shines in a lower key role. And their chemistry is just terrific.

I love food and I love to cook and bake. I just wish I had more time and a bigger kitchen. I knew that this food would contain depictions of food preparation that I wouldn't like (I am a devout vegetarian). I just closed my eyes while those short scenes were on. But the scene that I really object to is the one with the lobsters. I assume they used real lobsters and threw them into boiling water. That whole scene was totally unnecessary. There are many meat eaters who are against this.

Anyway, is well worth seeing for the performances and the interesting story lines. I enjoyed that. What I didn't enjoy was most of the food in the film. But that doesn't take away from the marvelous Streep and Tucci.

You, the Living

I loved Roy Andersson's Songs From a Second Floor. So when I heard that his new film You, the Living was going to play in NYC I was quite excited. And I was not disappointed.

In this film the You is us the audience. The film is a series of interconnected short vignettes. You, the Living is told with dry, deadpan humor. But it is just as much sad as it is funny. It shows us how hard life is. Yet we persist in carrying on. It is about humankind. There are no lead actors but all of the performances are spot on. Andersson's films are not for everyone but if you like unusual thought provoking films do check them out.

I also must write a few words about Epitafios, and Argentinian mini series I saw on DVD. It came out on HBO Latino in 2004. It is very powerful and has you on the edge of your seat even though you know who the murderer is. And it has a great cast (including Julio Chavez and Cecilia Roth). Highly recommended.

I would love to write more but due to lack of time and tiredness (it is getting late) I will sign off. Until next time I wish you peace.

In the Loop

In the Loop, directed by Armando Iannucci and written by Jesse Armstrong & Simon Blackwell, is a very funny and very scary political satire.

The action takes place in London, a rural area of England, Washington, DC and New York. The US and UK want to start a war in a Middle Eastern country (we do not know which country but use your imagination) but not everyone agrees with this. We get to see how both sides (pro and anti war) work and how, with many manipulations, a war can get started. Of course, the film is fiction but I think that some of what happens in the film might actually be true.

Peter Capaldi plays minister Malcolm Tucker. He is a foul mouthed, wicked sort of a man. Tom Hollander plays minister Simon Foster, a lower keyed man who is against the war. Gina McKee plays Judy, Foster's assistant. And James Gandolfini plays General George Miller, an anti war military man. There are other wonderful actors in the cast as well.

The plot is very interesting and the dialog is sharp. The acting is spot on by everyone but Capaldi truly stands out. I could see this film getting a Golden Globe nomination for Best Picture in the Musical/Comedy category.

Although I liked this film very much it is not for everyone. You have to like this type of scathing British humor. Some people walked out of the theater shaking their heads. But if you like razor sharp political satire that is very timely then In the Loop is for you.