REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE (1955)

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James Dean. Natalie Wood. A rental from Scarecrow Video.

The great and lovely Stewart Stern. I am a big fan. Stewart Stern imagined and wrote Rebel Without a Cause. He is a man, almost 90, with more passion and drive and ability that anyone I’ve met. He exudes inspiration, causing those around him to seek personal potential. He wrote “Rebel” in a Hollywood that had never seen a film of its equal. He is about details, about personalizing, about seeing beyond the spoken.


You may watch this classic film and snicker at the knife fights because you’ve been exposed to so much raw violence in your life. You say you’re not into “old movies.”  I believe some moments to be transcendent, defying time and shifts in culture. For some, including filmmaker John Woo, this film defines youth.  The theme of the whole film can be summed up in the opening scene, which “Jimmie” improvised after making the film crew dig up part of the street to make sure the camera filmed from ground level. Genius. 
Somehow Stewart saw the hearts of young hollywood and wrote them, speaking as they did. “It’s something to do.” They’ve never stopped relating to the themes of this film. The world will never stop loving James Dean, the rebel, in all of his glory. You’ll feel the pain, the camaraderie, the sense of loss around each corner. You’ll wonder why certain lines are spoken – they all mean something. Every apron string, every wind-up toy monkey, every red jacket…everything. Miss this film and miss its dear writer. Miss Stewart Stern and miss the kindest and dearest “rebel” of all time.

With love, for my friend Stewart. I love you, sir. 

thefilmschool.com/ index.php/stewart-stern/204

CAPTAIN AMERICA (2011)

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Call me muscle-biased. Call me a patriot. Call me, Chris Evans. Seriously. I’ll answer. We’ll go out.

Everyone loves a good underdog-turned-hero-to-beat-incredible-odds story. It’s The Last Starfighter (my favorite 80’s film). It’s Frodo with the ring. It’s The Rocketeer. And it should be, as it’s made by the same director. Check out Joe Johnston‘s lovely list on IMDB.com. From The Ewok Adventure to Honey I Shrunk the Kids to Young Indy to October Sky. I’ve been blindly enjoying his work my whole life. Feed me a good story and I’m satisfied. 

Captain America feels like a complete story. Hero fights bad guy (Hugo Weaving…deep curtsy to the Matrix & its Mr. Smith). Hero loses again and again, then wins, saves lives, loves, makes bad decisions, makes good decisions, and wins at last. I love twists in film, and I the end of this one was no exception. Shield-toting, war-bond selling, enlisted man reignites the swing years with his British female counterpart, Hayley Atwell.  Okay, yes, it has a bit of an every movie feel, and you can guess what is coming next. But what’s wrong with that? Pin it up against one cowboy and alien film that I won’t name, and it’s a masterpiece. I really didn’t expect to enjoy this one. It felt to hyped, too far down in a long a line up of comic book action films. But, I loved it. I left feeling like I’d actually seen a movie – the kind we used to wish was playing. Dare to love a hero again. I love you, Captain America.

BABIES (2010)

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In the debate of Nature vs. Nurture, I tend to to lean into the side of Nurture knowing that the milieus in which we are raised affect us greatly. This film peered brilliantly and honestly into 4 individual stories from 4 unique countries, giving the audience that long-coveted fly-on-the-wall feeling. 4 BABIES come into their own worlds, interact with parents, eat, sleep, poop, throw fits and coo. The coo’s become intelligible words just as crawls work up to dance. We climb. We conquer. In these are everyman and yet none of these represented groups that I feel I will ever truly understand. I was horrified by the cultural lack of hygiene and equally mortified by one family’s constant neglect of the baby who sat tied to the bedpost all day. I delighted in the culture of community in one story, but sat stupefied by the over-the-top American example. At least the American example reminded me of a very important truth: one family does not represent every. Just as the one African family is not every African family, so the Mongolian family does not represent all of Mongolia.

This, one of my first documentary film viewings, led me through fascinating journeys of thought into the probability that we are not only affected by our surroundings but that at whatever age, we also work to impact the environments in which we are placed. I also realized that I am so very Western. I know it’s not wrong to appreciate baby wipes, or to be more grateful suddenly for undergarments like bras, but this film stretches worldview. It gives a Truman-esque perspective. What will these little lives turn out like? What will they choose to do and become? How are they formed and forming in thier surroundings? How are they the same? How would they be different if they grew up elsewhere?

Perhaps this film speaks more of motherhood than childhood. I walked out of the theater a little more grieved than enchanted, but I did learn an important personal lesson: for now…I’m okay without the responsibility of parenthood. Someday, hopefully, but today I’m content without babies.

ONE DAY (2011)

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If Benjamin Button lived forwards.

If Alec Baldwin kept a day job instead of  acting.

If Phil simply returned to Punxsa- tawney every  year on Groundhog Day.

This is One Day. July 15th over the course of 20 odd years.

Anne Hathaway tries an accent and ages very well. Maybe this is why some go to the movies: to experience real life. Reality TV still thrives. I don’t know. But, I go to get lost in mystery and story and to learn or remember or to walk away changed.

This is not that film. it tries. It has a lovely moment. But this is not that film.

Two people who only really have each other. Destiny? No. Disappointment. Disillusionment. Disdain…meant. Replace wonderment with monotony. Repeal the notion that British men are better. Relish in your own misery, as it is probably more fun than watching theirs.  You’ll enjoy the  local scenery, a live comic Wallace (minus dog Gromit), and clothing you’ll remember slash regret owning from the 80’s & 90’s. These joys, however, are too few and crush intensely under the massive weight of words unspoken and unmeant, of lives unlived and morbid regret, and of substance abuse and grief and death. This is not a happy film.

And I warn you:  know that you will check your phone, if only just to see the time… I know you’re not a child. I know that you know how annoying it is for that one light to flash up like a beacon in the darkened movie house. Yet, you will do it. Yes, Jim Sturgess will draw you back in with that ever-lovin’ Across the Universe half-smile of his. but you’ll grow weary and want to see who texted you three times.

The Curious Case of BENJAMIN BUTTON (2009)

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F. Scott Fitzgerald, author of Gatsby, also wrote this charmingly odd little tale of Benjamin Button. The screenplay is a very loose retelling of the man who lives his life backwards.  You can read the short story online here: http://www.readbookonline.net/read/690/10628      T.H. White introduced a forshadowing Button figure in the wizard Merlin who also lives in reverse.

The universal fear of death sparks, or perhaps inflicts, the curiosity behind this premise.  The film is a beautiful progression of sepia tones which build into vibrant color as time passes, allowing time itself to play an antagonist.  The clock maker builds a momento to his son. Catalyst. Time passing. A series of events building on one another, creating in collage: a life.

Storms in film are catalysts for change. In Button they serve as reminders. They provide metaphoric markers as they follow Benjamin through his odd life. Unlike Merlin, however, he has no power to control, navigate, or make a mark on the future, so his “special” life is lived without purpose. He loves, but never selflessly. He experiences life, but learns nothing from it. In this way, he is ever the child.

I expected more. I expect heros to transform, to learn, to grow. Unfortunately, this film emphasizes sameness: we end as we begin – in diapers. What hope is there in that?

 

 

CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE (2011)

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“We are all fools in love”
— Jane Austen

Harry met Sally. Monica married Chandler. Cary Grant finally took Grace Kelly into his arms and outside: fireworks! Inside the curtains flutter and that’s when mothers hit the fast forward button or push the kids out of the living room until she says “Okay, it’s over.” Oh those Thornbirds and the naughty Father de Bricassart. Finally, a film written to go beyond the meticulous tension build to the crescendo’d self-indulgent …make-out scene. I knew there had to be more afterglow post curtain-flutter.

This film banks on the much debated thesis that soul mates exist and must be continually fought for. It is also about choosing wise counselors.

A good mentor is hard to find, and over and over I wondered why no one was listening and speaking into the life of the babysitter who finally takes her cues from the school slut? In awkward parallel, Steve Carell‘s frumpy but faithful leading man allows sexy, sarcastic Gosling (from Notebook to notable) to show him the ropes. And by ropes I mean game-playing, pretending to listen by asking questions that make it look like he cares, blatantly objectifying women, and finally wooing young women to his bed. Gosling wants to help him regain his manliness, but all he makes in this carbon copy attempt is another lonely man. Sex is not a healer. It doesn’t solve the problem. Rather, it sets the house on fire, burning up a marriage when played with outside of the context of loyalty and faithfulness.

Ironically, Gosling’s character is always hungry. Ryan Gosling is a smart actor. He knows to give his characters an outward manifestation of his inward truth, which he finally speaks to Emma Stone in confidence. He’s been trying to buy away his loneliness and emptiness, but can’t . Meaningless sex can’t even fill the void. Shocker.

“My dad’s the better man, and he’s going to win.” Before the too-long 2nd act montage showing easy women on the heels of  both men, I wanted to claim this film. I’d love to write something this funny and serious at the same time. The first hour is truly brilliant – every character says what he or she means with true intention, even tossing the “L” word about freely like a frisbee to a waiting dog. 

All in all, this film proves to be as hilarious and heartbreaking as …well, as love itself.

THE HELP (2011)

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Tonight I crashed a book club party. Donna Reed attire required. So, I darkened the brows and dawned the hornrims, pumps, pearls and hairpiece. This was what I was going for:

Of course I hadn’t even read the book, but I heard they were going to the movie after the meeting. Only once did I feel a bit like Jim from The Office episode when he sits in on Pam’s book club, “Angela? …the Ashes? nope.” This party was amazing, though. The hostess, Meredith, played the movie soundtrack and served foods straight the book, including paprika-less deviled eggs and Chocolate Pie. She decorated, had questions mapped out, and she gave us parting gifts with lines from the book and personalized notes attached. She’s good.

And then, the unexpected: in what I had assumed would indeed be the “sleeper hit of the summer” I found a personal Shawshank. Some may slap my face in blasphemy for that comparison, but the truths of this film should wake us up. Hatred has a million faces, but we don’t expect it mingling with beauty.

Bryce Dallas Howard’s gorgeous Hilly Holbrook, proved the formidable opponent, though an almost comic book antagonist. Emma Stone plays her vital opposite as Skeeter, always wishing for beauty until she finds it within. As Skeeter presses in for the true stories of the ever-present under-appreciated “help” she learns to speak her story as well.

In this film we gain new eyes. Shame on you if you don’t cry. Go on. Let yourself. Life Lessons like these cannot be understood without new eyes.  So, wash out the old ones with tears of new beginnings. Become a human being who cares about the hearts of the hurting -whatever their stations, races, crimes, and conclusions. Love one another as God loves you.

For Aibileen’s motto applies to all: “You is kind. You is smart. You is important.” And don’t you forget it.

Visit Scarecrow Video!

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Scarecrow Video, just off of Roosevelt & 50th in the U District in Seattle has EVERY title! Ask any one of the employees as you walk in for any new release, genre, director, obscure indie or international title and their degree in film studies will register beneath the lenses, and a pointer finger will raise to the exact location of that movie. Beware. When I say EVERY movie…I mean it. Many are not for young eyes…or mine. But go.

If you remember seeing The Hunt for Red October on an old gigantic lazer disc and you’ve ever wanted to relive that experience, you can rent players there. Even VHS players (what are those, right?), and projectors for that backyard film fest. Remember that one that you saw with your mom on Turner Classics when you were little that just haunts you? They’ve got it. What’s that one Wes Anderson movie? It’s there, and they know.

So, go! Visit Scarecrow Video and support a local legend. If you have out of town guests coming in, show them Seattle and take them to Scarecrow. Let them pick the movie or take them to the Italian film section and rent Life is Beautiful for a lovely and memorable evening.  Say Hi to Kevin for me while you’re there. Shake his hand. He’s a good man.

I heart Scarecrow Video!

COWBOYS & ALIENS

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Contrived.

The cake mix of cowboy movie must-haves: dirty, gun-toting scoundrels, swigging whiskey, court’n women. Then pour a spittoon-load of current blockbuster must have’s and mix! Make the one woman on set spout feminism while standing for her freedoms naked…because she owns her ill-clad body, doggonit! Have the expressionless hero earn points with the audience by literally petting a dog…er..uh..saving a cat.Don’t forget the daddy issues, aliens with hard outer shells & useless slimy inner belly-hands, cool shooting wrist gadgets, throw backs to the holocaust (to ground it in real life), some one-take one-liners, and a mutual galaxy-wide lust for gold.
If you don’t see this movie, watch the trailer. It’s like the movie, but the content is rich and satisfying.

XMEN: First Class (2011)

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First class action. First class casting. First class film.


Action ala mutant powers – though more brutal and tending toward Dark Knight-esque intensity, Matthew Vaughn (director) can boast stunning and persuasive visuals.The 60’s costumes were brilliant and comic book bright. One small leap in detail and this could have been a more accurate, but vastly more distracting period film. Avoiding Austin Powers is a smart move for any serious film. And, this is a serious film.

Audiences appreciate historical consistency, a thread of the known. It feels like a Jeopardy game during a movie – testing your knowledge of historical events while playing with your psyche to stem myth in truth. Tricky, but appreciated by intelligent audiences around the globe. Who knew that the Cuban Missile Crisis was averted by none other than Professor X?
 Fassbender’s Magneto felt often painfully reminiscent of his recent version of Jane Eyre’s beloved. Despite this, however, I feel that he is a tornado of talent – deadly and attractive. McAvoy’s Prof. X roles likeably as a Tumnus through this tale as well. Funny how I’ve forgotten almost all of the other characters. I had such high hopes for Nicholas Hoult who was lovelier as a Beast. Eye of the beholder. Oh, yes, and how could I forget Bacon. Kevin Bacon. Oh! Nazi pig farmers. I get it. Funny. That is all.