Beasts of the Southern Wild

Posted on July 5, 2012 at 6:00 pm

A prize-winner at Cannes and Sundance, this near post-apocalyptic story of a father and daughter in a condemned part of Southern Louisiana is a stunningly assured debut by first-time feature director and co-writer Benh Zeitlen and extraordinary performances by a cast of non-professionals.

Six-year-old Hushpuppy (the mesmerizing Quvenzhané Wallis) and her father Wink (Dwight Henry, who owns a bakery in New Orleans) live in homes made from trash in a fictional community called The Bathtub. They do not have electricity, running water, or telephones, but Hushpuppy is happy and feels lucky to be there.

Zeitlen, the 29-year-old son of folklorists, makes this story exquisitely lyrical. It is poetic in tone and epic in scope. Seeing through Hushpuppy’s eyes makes it feel like a fairy tale because of the freshness of her conception of what is real and what is fantasy, what is strange and what is ordinary, what is scary and what is comfortable. Like Margaret O’Brien in the beginning of “Meet Me in St. Louis,” she introduces us to the community she loves. Like Alice, she brings us into a strange and enchanted world.

‘The Bathtub has more holidays than the whole rest of the world,” she tells us; while ordinary people in other places only have one or two holidays, they celebrate all the time. She is a part of a fiercely devoted community. We hear her repeat what she has been told and we see the contrast between what she is telling us and what we are able to understand. Her father’s hospital gown and the precariousness of their shelter signify nothing special to her, but we can tell it means that her father is very sick and the next big storm will flood The Bathtub. What we see as peril and deprivation, she sees as a place of myth and plenty. And she sees it as her home. For her, it is “the prettiest place on earth.” That is what she has been told and that is how it seems.

Later, when they are taken to a shelter, we see that through her eyes, too. For Hushpuppy, it is not a place of rescue and protection but a place of strangeness and sterility. Buses parked outside, ready to take displaced people from the exotic but familiar world of The Bathtub to strange-sounding far-away places like Des Moines seem institutional and predatory. Later, another possible rescue takes her to a part of the “civilized” world that again, we understand when Hushpuppy does not see how very dangerous it is.

Hushpuppy’s teacher points to the tattoo on her thigh to illustrate her stories about the aurochs, boar-like prehistoric beasts. The fable-like timelessness of the setting makes the era of the aurochs feel very close. When they appear, in a scene of breathtaking synthesis of myth and metaphor, Hushpuppy’s spirit seems to expand to fill all of the courage, resolve, and vision of the human spirit.

Zeitlen achieves a naturalness and state of wonder that is breathtaking to experience and one of the most impressive films of the year.

(more…)

Rock of Ages

Posted on June 14, 2012 at 6:00 pm

The era of big power ballads reaching to the back rows of big stadiums filled with big crowds of fans with big hair is paid big tribute in this irresistibly entertaining anthem-rock love letter to the 80’s. Sung almost entirely by actors rather than rockers, the music is homogenized, somewhere between a “Glee” episode and a real glee club performance. But, let’s face it. Some of these songs were close to parody even at the time.

Marx famously said that history repeats itself, first as tragedy and then as farce. When it comes to music, history repeats itself, too. First — at least ideally — it is raw and authentic expression of emotion and, as “School of Rock” reminds us, “sticking it to The Man.” When it repeats itself, it is The Man. Yes, “Rock of Ages” is a jukebox musical that turns the barbaric yawps and screeches of rock and roll into something between karaoke, elevator music, and Up with People. Journey’s “Anyway You Want It” is currently being used as an insurance company jingle and background music in an animated kids’ film, Madagascar 3 and Dee Snider sings in an ad about cleaning the rock and roll out of your carpet. So it’s hard to say that it dilutes the authenticity of these songs to be performed by Mary J. Blige, Constantine Maroulis, and Julianne Hough.

Various romantic, business, and existential conflicts provide excuses for songs from Bon Jovi, Guns N Roses, Def Leppard, Twisted Sister, Poison, and Pat Benetar. Hough plays Sherrie (how did they not include “Oh, Sherrie?”), a small-town girl, living in a lonely world, who takes not the midnight train to anywhere but the midnight bus from Oklahoma to Los Angeles, in search of the excitement and adventure she has glimpsed through her beloved collection of record albums. They — along with everything else she owns — are stolen as soon as she arrives. But Drew (Diego Boneta), a city boy who works at a club and wants to be a singer, gets her a job as a waitress. The club is owned by Dennis (Alec Baldwin), who is hoping that an upcoming show from a superstar rock group he helped in their early days will solve his financial problems. His devoted techie (that’s sound technology, not computers, back in the 80’s) is Lonny (Russell Brand).

The group is the fictitious Arsenal and this is their last show. Their rock god frontman, Stacee Jaxx (Tom Cruise) is leaving them for a solo career. Also arriving is the Rolling Stone reporter who is, uh covering Jaxx (Malin Ackerman). And also on her way is the wife of the mayor (Catherine Zeta Jones), leading the charge against rock and roll for its outrageous lyrics and sexual rhythms, in support of her husband’s plan to drive out sex, drugs, and rock and roll so he can let his business cronies gentrify the area. The irony is not lost that the storyline in the movie gentrifies not only the music it portrays but the plot of the already-prettied-up musical playing since 2009 near the already-gentrified Times Square. The script has a few choice moments, including a funny joke about another element of 80’s music — boy bands. And it is cute to have the protesting women sing a real rock anthem, “We’re Not Going to Take It” while the rock fans sing the song even the Jefferson Starship (nee Airplane) is embarrassed by, “We Built This City.” (Look carefully in the crowd for some real 80’s stars including Debbie Gibson and Sebastian Bach.)

If the songs are a little soft in the middle, well so are the teenagers of the 80’s who are this film’s target audience. Hough and Boneta are so bland they all but disappear fromt the screen. The only real singer in the cast is Mary J. Blige, but Cruise vamps like a superstar and his performance is choice. As the rock star who is as zonked by ennui as he is by substance abuse and groupies but who comes alive on stage imploring us to pour some sugar on him, he is a hoot. He is clearly having the time of his life and the pure enjoyment he, Baldwin, Brand, and Zeta Jones bring to the film is as buoyant as the still-hummable music. Yes, we were young, heartache to heartache we stood, and like the brick-sized cell phones, buying albums at Tower Records, and cassette tapes, the memories bring a smile. And some devil’s horns.

Parents should know that this film includes gay and straight sexual situations and explicit situations including groupies and strippers, drinking and drunkenness, and some strong language.

Family discussion: What has changed the most in popular music since these songs were hits? Which of today’s songs will still be popular 30 years from now?

If you like this, try: “Across the Universe” and concert films from some of the groups whose songs are featured in this movie like Def Leppard’s “Rock of Ages,” Bon Jovi’s “Life at Madison Square Garden,” and Guns ‘n’ Roses’ “Use Your Illusions” I and II

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Coriolanus

Posted on May 28, 2012 at 9:00 am

B+

Lowest Recommended Age:	High School
MPAA Rating:	Rated R for some bloody violence
Profanity:	Strong Elizabethan language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Drinking
Violence/ Scariness:	Graphic battle violence, characters injured and killed
Diversity Issues:	None
Date Released to Theaters:	January 13, 2012
Date Released to DVD:	May 28, 2012
Amazon.com ASIN:	B0059XTUR2

Shakespeare’s play about a Roman general who survives battle only to take on the bigger battles of politics has been brought to screen by Ralph Fiennes, who directed and stars as the title character. Contemporary costumes and weapons and Serbian locations underscore how little has changed in the 500 years since Shakespeare wrote the play and indeed in the more than 2000 years since the events depicted.

Caius Martius (Fiennes) is a general who returns home in triumph after defeating the Tarquins and rewarded by being given the new surname Coriolanus. His fierce mother (Vanessa Redgrave in an incendiary performance) is proud and ambitious. His wife (Jessica Chastain), is quietly devoted. He calls her “my gracious silence.” He is persuaded to go into politics, but his public statements come across as arrogant and ignorant. He sees it as honesty and refusing to pander to the crowd but he is condemned as a traitor and exiled. Furious, he goes to the other side, first offering to sacrifice himself and then joining forces to attack his own city. Once again he faces the leader of the opposing forces (Gerard Butler).

Fiennes makes an impressive debut as a director, making good use of the locations to evoke the chaos of a war-torn world and its symbolism for what is most broken and bleakest inside the title character. Redgrave matches his ferocity, helping us realize a depth of understanding for one of Shakespeare’s few lead tragic characters who never explains himself with asides or monologues. Butler, as the antagonist who understands Coriolanus better than his family, his colleagues, and the political operators who want to use him, is the cracked mirror who provides the insight that Coriolanus fails to have for himself. The single-mindedness and lack of introspection that served him — and Rome — so well as a general leave him defenseless when the war is over.

Parents should know that this film includes bloody battle violence with characters injured and killed.

Family discussion: What leaders in today’s world are most like Coriolanus? Like those who encourage him to try politics?

If you like this, try: “Looking for Richard,” with Al Pacino working on a production of “Richard III.”

“It’s May!” (Camelot)

Posted on May 1, 2012 at 8:00 am

Vanessa Redgrave sings “It’s May” from the Lerner and Lowe musical Camelot.

Remake of “Steel Magnolias” with Queen Latifah and Phylicia Rashad

Posted on March 23, 2012 at 3:45 pm

I was thrilled to hear that Lifetime is working on a remake of “Steel Magnolias” with Queen Latifah as M’Lynn (the part played in the movie by Sally Field), Phylicia Rashad as Clairee (played in the movie by Olympia Dukakis), Jill Scott as beauty salon owner Truvy (played in the movie by Dolly Parton) and Alfre Woodard as the irascible Ouiser (played in the movie by Shirley MacLaine). Rashad’s daughter Condola will play Shelby, a character inspired by the playwright’s sister, who died of complications from diabetes but who would “rather have 30 minutes of wonderful than a lifetime full of of nothing.” This is a dream team of performers and I can’t wait to see what they do with this juicy story.