Country Strong

Posted on April 12, 2011 at 8:00 am

The husband manager of the beloved country singer just out of rehab says to her, “Do I tell you how to sing, darlin’? Hmm? Have I ever told you how to sing a song?” “That ain’t the point,” she weakly responds, and he keeps going. “Don’t tell me how to run your life. I been doin’ pretty good with it.”

That brief exchange 36 years ago in the classic Robert Altman film, “Nashville,” summarizes the new Gwyneth Paltrow film, “Country Strong.” She plays Kelly Canter, always introduced as a six-time Grammy winner, whose husband-manager James (played by real-life country superstar Tim McGraw) takes her out of rehab a month early for a series of concerts, on the theory that her brand needs more rehabilitation than her substance abuse problem.

But the incomplete rehab is not the only unfinished business. In a performance in Dallas, Kelly, then five months pregnant, was so drunk she fell off the stage. She has to regain the trust of her fans, concert promoters, her husband, and — toughest of all — herself.

To make things even more complicated and difficult, the opening acts for her new tour are Beau (“Tron: Legacy’s” Garrett Hedlund) and Chiles (“Gossip Girl’s” Leighton Meester). Kelly likes Beau. James likes Chiles. Beau and Chiles like each other. Not even a country song, much less a movie, can manage all that drama.

The music is the best part. Hedlund has a surprisingly rich singing voice, the mahogany tones giving depth and stature to an under-written character, and Meester handles her songs like the beauty pageant contestant with Taylor Swift ambitions she is asked to play. But all of Paltrow’s considerable acting chops are not up to the challenge of playing either a country singer or a substance abuser. Her toned, willowy body and elegant, urban posture are out of place and her singing voice, while pleasant and tuneful is far better suited to the saucy songs she performed on “Glee.”

As in her first film, The Greatest, writer-director Shana Feste shows a great deal of promise, but like many excited beginners, she still has not figured out how to remove the clutter from her story. Individual scenes work well enough and the songs are very good but she juggles too many relationships with too many ups and downs and the conclusion feels unearned and tacked on. Part of the power of a country song is its simplicity in telling its story, a lesson Feste still needs to learn.

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Drama Musical

Two Upcoming Films at George Mason

Posted on April 11, 2011 at 12:56 pm

If you are in the Washington DC area, be sure to check out these two screenings at George Mason University’s Johnson Center Cinema. Both are free and open to the public.

The screening of Poster Girl (38 mins, 2011 Oscar nominee for Best Documentary, Short Subject) on April 27 at 6:30pm in Johnson Center Cinema, will be followed by a Q&A by director Sara Nesson and her documentary’s subject, Iraq war veteran Robynn Nesson.

The screening of Living for 32 (40 mins), on April 28 at 4:30pm in Johnson Center Cinema, will be followed by a Q&A with the documentary’s subject, Colin Goddard.

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Documentary Independent

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:00 am

B+

Lowest Recommended Age:	Middle School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 for some sequences of intense action violence, frightening images and brief sexuality
Profanity:	Some British swear words
Alcohol/ Drugs:	None
Violence/ Scariness:	Constant intense fantasy peril and violence, some graphic injuries, major characters injured and killed
Diversity Issues:	A theme of the movie
Date Released to Theaters:	November 18, 2010
Date Released to DVD:	April 12, 2011
Amazon.com ASIN:	B001UV4XHY

Harry, Hermione, and Ron have to grow up quite literally in the gripping second-to-last installment of the “Harry Potter” movie series, based on the first half of the seventh and final book. Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione (Emma Watson), and Ron (Rupert Grint) take a swig of polyjuice potion to impersonate three nondescript middle-aged people so they can infiltrate the Ministry. Afterward, they shed the older personas like giant overcoats. But they know they must stay in the adult world in this powerful story that sets up the final confrontation between the boy who did not die and he who must not be named.

No more Hogwarts school for young wizards and witches. No more Quidditch, no more short-term Defense Against the Dark Arts professors or visits to Hagrid’s creatures or OWL exams or excursions to Hogsmeade for a cozy chat over butterbear at The Three Broomsticks. Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) is dead. Hermione has had to erase her parents memories so that not even a photograph remains as evidence that they once had a child. The dreadful Dursleys have fled 4 Privet Drive. Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) is stronger. The Ministry is under the control of his Death Eaters, who despise muggles (humans) and want to eradicate any witches or wizards with muggle blood.

Everything is on the line. Within the first 15 minutes of the film, an important character is seriously wounded and another is killed. Deeper, direr losses are ahead. Harry, Hermione, and Ron are out in the cold as they race from one remote, chilly location to another and try to figure out how to locate the seven places where Voldemort has hidden pieces of his soul.

Director David Yates and writer Steve Kloves return, again showing a deep appreciation for the material, especially in the way the vast, bleak settings reflect the overwhelming task facing the three friends. The book is not an easy one to adapt and like its source material the movie sometimes seems to lack direction as its heroic trio often has no idea what to do next. But its young stars have grown into able performers who hold up well next to what sometimes seems like a battalion of classically trained British actors. The scene of Hermione erasing her parents memory is very brief, but Watson makes it sharply poignant. Radcliffe’s quiet dignity shows us how Harry has matured. And Grint, too often relegated to comic relief, gets a chance to show us his pain as a piece of Voldemort’s soul begins to infect him with jealousy and mistrust. A tender moment between Harry and Hermione lends a sweet gravity that does as much to add urgency to our anticipation for the next chapter as the prospect of the final battle. (more…)

Upstairs, Downstairs — Old and New

Posted on April 10, 2011 at 12:58 pm

I loved the old PBS series “Upstairs, Downstairs,” which ran from 1971-75 on the BBC. It was revolutionary because it gave almost-equal time to the stories of the servants (downstairs) and the wealthy Edwardian-era family they worked for (upstairs). Jean Marsh, who played a housemaid, was the series co-creator with her friend Eileen Atkins. A new 40th anniversary DVD set has been released by Acorn Media with more than 25 hours of new bonus material.

Marsh returns for three new episodes, this time with Atkins, as the sequel to “Upstairs, Downstairs” begins tonight on PBS.

When the master of 165 Eaton Place, Sir Hallam Holland, carries his wife across the threshold of their new home, Lady Agnes exclaims with pleasure, “What a ghastly old mausoleum!” Neglect has strewn cobwebs everywhere and furred the surfaces with dust. But with a sumptuous renovation and the help of the indomitable housekeeper Rose Buck (Jean Marsh), the iconic address so beloved in the original series Upstairs Downstairs is soon restored to its former glory.

It’s 1936, a tumultuous time in Britain, and within the walls of 165 Eaton Place, characters from an orphanage, a damp Welsh castle, the heart of the British Raj and elsewhere together will face a changing world, not just upstairs and downstairs, but side by side.

Upstairs Downstairs

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Drama Television

Hanna

Posted on April 8, 2011 at 7:15 am

Director Joe Wright is fascinated with Saoirse Ronan’s blue eyes, entirely understandable. Her cerulean gaze is so pure, so clear, so direct, and at the same time knowing and innocent that it is perfect for the role of Hanna, a 16-year-old girl who has been trained as an assassin by her father, Erik (Eric Bana) and lived since she was a baby. They live in a frozen and remote corner of Finland, eating the wild deer and wearing skins to stay warm.

When Erik gives Hanna the choice to leave, here is what she knows: several languages and more than several ways to kill people, to be on guard even when she is asleep, that people will try to capture or kill her, and a fake backstory complete with the names of her school, best friends, and dog. Here is what she does not know: tea kettles and ceiling fans, music, other teenagers, families, small talk, and whether there is anyone she can trust.

She also knows that she is ready to leave Finland and ready to stop pretending to defend herself and do it for real. So Erik puts on a suit and walks off into the snow, leaving Hanna to be captured and fight her way back to meet up with him. Wright, known for classy literary adaptations “Pride and Prejudice” and “Atonement” makes this a thinking person’s action film with stylish fight scenes and a “Bourne”-like existential core. Hanna’s age and inexperience make her vulnerable despite her training. And like all teenagers, she is thrilled and a bit terrified by her discovery that her father did not tell her everything and does not know everything.

Only someone who has spent the past 15 years in a remote, snowed-in corner of Finland will not figure out where this is all going, but there is much to enjoy along the way. There’s a Luc Besson-ish detour as Hanna meets up with a traveling English family and is as flummoxed by their bickering and cultural references as she is beguiled by the song they sing together as they drive. We get our first look at Hanna’s nemesis, CIA hotshot Marissa (Cate Blanchett) in her apartment, all in shades of pewter except for her red hair, brushing her teeth with a ferocity that shows us her steely resolve, as slender and focused as a whippet. Marissa brings in a kinky free-lance agent played by Tom Hollander (Mr. Collins in Wright’s “Pride and Prejudice”).

Wright sets actions scenes on a loading dock and in a fairytale amusement park. A Hansel and Gretel candy house is a literally upside-down version of the snow-covered cabin she shared with her father. The references to Grimm work as well as the gritty chases and hand-to-hand combat. It’s a stylish thriller with a lot to watch and a lot to ponder.

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Action/Adventure Spies Thriller