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I Saw United 93

29 Apr

I can’t say I was personally affected by the events of 9/11.

Thankfully, I knew no one who was on any of the four planes, and even though I am originally from New York and know many people who live there, no one I know died in the attack on the World Trade Center.

That said, I was really personally affected by the new movie United 93. And really, it’s hard not to be.

This is top-notch filmmaking, the kind of you-are-there movie that puts you on the plane, in the air traffic control centers, on the seat of your pants, and makes you feel like you were a part of the events of that day.

It all feels authentic, and it takes place in real time in almost documentary fashion, so you feel the dread when simple things happen, like the closing of the plane doors. And there’s probably no moment as uneasy as when the plane actually takes off. Continue reading →

Thou Shall Not Blog About Religion?

16 Apr

One thing I’ve been wondering lately, and I hope it’s not offensive to be posting this today, is when the showing of The Ten Commandments on TV became an Easter tradition.

The film tells the story of Passover and is all about the plight of the Jews in Egypt. There’s no mention of Jesus or resurrection, or anything else that has to do with Easter, as far as I know.

And I acknowledge that non-Jews consider the Old Testament to be holy texts, and that the Ten Commandments themselves are relevant to other religions, but what about The Ten Commandments movie relates to Easter?

Why doesn’t it air more intentionally closer to the time of Passover, when it would be more appropriate? Continue reading →

Don’t Quit

10 Apr

This story is a couple days old now, but last week, an employee in a Norfolk, Mass., jail showed Brokeback Mountain to the inmates. When the “by-the-book warden” caught wind of what movie was being shown, he ordered it be turned off immediately. Politics aside, here’s my real problem with this: they turned off the movie with just 10 minutes to go. Now, I don’t care what movie they were watching. You don’t turn a movie off so close to the end. I mean, sure, I’m all for punishing criminals, and I didn’t exactly think Brokeback ended sooooo well (though I did see it twice and liked it), but still … show the whole movie and then reprimand this employee. Turning off a movie so close to the end is just not cool.

Money Changes Everything

9 Apr

When Friends with Money begins, you’re inclined to sympathize with Olivia, who is the only single member in a group of four women friends, three of whom are rich.

Olivia goes from one dead-end career to another (presently, she’s a maid) and one dead-end relationship to another. She’s so directionless and inert that her friends, when discussing which valuable cause they’re giving their money to, joke that they should give it to her.

In fact, the only real thing she has going for her is that she’s played by Jennifer Aniston.

Friends with Money would therefore have you hate Olivia’s friends because they are all so self-involved with their own lives, and the seeming glory of having a spouse and a house and kids and money, that they are completely oblivious to how unhappy Olivia is.

One of their spouses even says, “She doesn’t look unhappy.”

Well, one of the great things about this movie is that you come to see that the friends are not ignoring Olivia’s predicament at all. Instead, they each have significant problems of their own, from crumbling marriages to anger and resentment.

Thus, you have equal sympathy for all four of the women, and the film becomes a true ensemble piece about what defines happiness and success and friendship. Continue reading →

Starstruck in Waltham

3 Apr

Headed over to the ole U last night for the award ceremony of the annual SunDeis film festival. Mostly, it was because Jesse L. Martin and S. Epatha Merkerson were going to be there; she was being recognized as the “Entertainer of the Year,” and he was presenting the award to her. Given that I hadn’t seen a single film in the festival, the ceremony was hit and miss for me as far as entertainment value. There were the expected (and bad) Brokeback Mountain jokes, and other expected jokes, like when the music director was presenting an award and he kept getting “interrupted” by the orchestra. But some speeches were genuinely good, including the Best Actress winner, who made hysterical reference to Martin and Merkerson sitting right in front of the podium. Others ran the gamut from low-key student humble, to cocky “You’ll all be working for me soon” ego, which was a bit of a buzzkill, since some of these folks didn’t even go to Brandeis.

When it was Martin’s turn, he didn’t disappoint. The festival coordinator introduced him by saying what award he was there to present, but really, “how do you measure … measure a year?” And then Martin just riffed for five minutes on his good friend, talking about her unparalleled ability to curse, about her having been on Pee-Wee’s Playhouse (as Reba the mail lady), and about their car accident earlier in the day — making sure to show off that he was fine. Then Merkerson took the stage and the two became a classic comedy duo. There was a winking admission that she always brings her “brother” Jesse L. Martin with her because she only seems to get press coverage when he’s with her. And Merkerson also revealed that she initially thought she was getting an award from Barnard College, which is located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. But she and Martin were excited to arrive in Boston and to have a white stretch limo waiting for them, courtesy of the festival. “I said to Jesse, ‘We’re going to the prom!'” she recalled. She did her S. Epatha Merkerson thing, which we all saw when she won the Golden Globe, the SAG award, and the Emmy, only here it was looser and more profane, and just plain funny. Clearly, both felt like this was the most random thing they’d done in a long time. I’m sure there’ll be a video clip on the SunDeis web site soon.

Also in attendance were Anita Hill (left), now a Brandeis professor, who acted as official ambassador for the university before the show began, and lifetime achievement award recipients Celeste Holm (Gentleman’s Agreement, above) and Margaret O’Brien (Meet Me in St. Louis). For a student film festival in Waltham, Mass., it was an impressive evening.

Least Surprising News Story of the Day

28 Mar

Brokeback Mountain Takes Top Film at Gay Awards

O for Okay

26 Mar

Went to see V for Vendetta last night with Amy and John. Good, solid entertainment. I’ll never hear the 1812 Overture without thinking of London exploding overhead (what an ending). And while I was a bit confused by some of the relationships, I’ll give V the benefit of the doubt and say my head was elsewhere and I missed the explanation. Oh, and of course, the movie has Natalie Portman, who I’ve become quite fond of in recent months.

V is a high-falutin’ comic book movie that aims to make grand political statements — “Behind this mask is a man, and behind this man is an idea. And ideas are bulletproof” is one line spoken by the masked terrorist, simply named V. “People should not be afraid of their governments, governments should be afraid of their people” is another — but there’s so much of that kind of talk that it’s a bit amusing when such lines are spoken. Another curiosity is the fact that V has this ornate and rather large underground lair, and yet the government, which is supposedly this all-knowing dictatorship, has no idea where he’s hiding out. And it’s not nearly as grand or exciting a movie as, say, Batman Begins, but seeing V for Vendetta is certainly not a bad way to spend two hours. I give it a B for … well, not for bad but for um, bang.

He’s Having a Party

18 Mar

Altogether, Dave Chappelle’s Block Party is a really great, really fun, really upbeat, really exciting movie.

But I think for me, it’s a movie made up of great individual moments.

Like Kanye West’s performance of “Jesus Walks.”

Or The Fugees’ reunion.

Or when Erykah Badu’s wig nearly blows off.

Or when a guy in a store apologies for cursing and Dave says it’s alright, “this is a movie.”

Or when a Dayton, Ohio, woman is packing for her trip to New York and she wonders what to wear to a rap party, saying “I should have bought a thong.”

There are almost too many to mention, and they all add up to something really great. Continue reading →

What I Like About Her

14 Mar

Alright, so this posting may make me out to be a giant perv, but I can’t help it: I loves me some Amanda Bynes.

Her cherubic face, her smile, her girl-next-door charm, her comedic skill … the girl’s just dreamy.

How appropos that she’s on a TV show called What I Like About You.

For me, it goes back to when she was in Vanity Fair, which remains one of my favorite issues of all time.

So I was really excited to see her new film, She’s the Man, tonight.

Really.

And it’s not just because of how good she looks on the movie’s poster. Continue reading →

I Don’t Get It …

10 Mar

… the movie I hated the other night is the same one Ty Burr gave three-and-a-half stars to in today’s Boston Globe. I’m all for a difference of opinion, and I generally respect Ty Burr’s take on films, being a longtime reader of his from back when he was on staff at Entertainment Weekly, but come on … Game 6 really is not a very good movie. And it’s definitely not that good.

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