What He Did for Love

14 Dec

I Love You Phillip Morris begins with the statement, “This really happened.” And it sets the tone appropriately, because the story that’s told in this movie is so absurd, so unbelievable, that it just has to be true — and it is. Steven Jay Russell (Jim Carrey) is a charming, charismatic con man who gets sent to prison for fraud and meets Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor). The two fall in love, and Russell attempts con after con to free Phillip and build a perfect life with him.

Written and directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, the pair behind the equally twisted Bad Santa, Phillip Morris is an offbeat love story, to put it mildly. It gives Carrey one of his best roles in years, and he does a nice job with it. The film has some good laughs, some charming moments, and again, it’s so unusual, so absurd, that I found it quite enjoyable. Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction, and in those cases, it makes for fun films. I’m giving Phillip Morris a B+.

Dance Club

13 Dec

* SPOILER ALERT * SPOILER ALERT * SPOILER ALERT *

What do you get when you cross Swan Lake, All About Eve, Showgirls, and Fight Club? That’s right: Black Swan, one of the strangest, most confusing movies of this or any year. In the film, Natalie Portman stars as Nina, an up-and-coming ballet dancer, whose sanity unravels when she scores the lead role in a new production of Swan Lake. If you don’t know this ballet (and I didn’t), it requires the lead to play two roles: the White Swan (notable for her innocence and grace) and the Black Swan (the polar opposite; a more sensual, seductive character). This duality proves a challenge for Nina: she is nothing if not delicate and graceful, but exploring her seductive side is less natural. When Lily (Mila Kunis) joins the company, she is seen as a more perfect fit for the Black Swan, and she becomes a rival to Nina. Their relationship develops into a twisted friendship, and as it does, Nina begins to lose her grip on reality.

That said, though it’s set in the world of ballet, Black Swan is not a ballet movie. Instead, it’s a psychological thriller that’s creepy and keeps you guessing. Having seen it, I still don’t exactly know what to make of it, and that’s not meant to be a dismissive statement. Generally, I enjoyed the movie — it’s attractive to watch, Portman is very good, and it’s certainly thought-provoking. But like Fight Club, I think I may have to see it again before I really understand and appreciate it. So for now, pending a repeat viewing and more discussion, and because writing about Black Swan means revealing important plot points, I’m going to cut this short and only give the film a B.

Worth Fighting For

10 Dec

When was the last time you saw a movie so good, so easy to root for, that all you wanted to do was shout from the rooftops and tell everybody you know to go see it?

For me, that movie is The Fighter.

This gritty, real-life story has been brought to the screen by Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, and director David O. Russell, and it’s just an awesome, beautiful film.

Wahlberg, who also produced, stars as “Irish” Micky Ward, the boxer from Lowell, Mass., who fights to overcome adversity both in and out of the ring. Micky is being groomed by his older half-brother, Dicky (Bale), to be a welterweight champion and to capture the title that eluded Dicky when he chose drugs over the sport. Now, Dicky’s struggles with crack are threatening both his life and his brother’s career. Continue reading →

Chatting About Culture with Mr. Crane

3 Dec

There’s a pretty good chance that David Hyde Pierce won’t see this.

That’s because when I interviewed him for Continental magazine a few months back and I asked him about whether he uses social media and is on Facebook or Twitter, the erstwhile Niles Crane responded rather quickly and tersely, “I’d rather die.”

Alright, fine. So that subject was a dead end.

But thankfully, there was plenty else for us to discuss, and some of that conversation is now on planes and on the magazine’s website for all to read. Continue reading →

Four Years

28 Nov

It takes a special kind of grandmother to make each of her grandchildren feel like they were her favorite. And that’s exactly the kind of person my Bubby was. She made each one of her seven grandchildren feel like they were the center of her world. Today, on the fourth anniversary of the day she left us, I miss Bubby more than usual. No one loved my grandmother as much as I did, but the thing is, I know I’m not alone in that sentiment; my sister and my five cousins would probably tell you the same thing about themselves. And isn’t that the ultimate tribute to what a great woman she was? Each one of us wants to be the person who loved her the most. All these years later, we’re still competing to show who had the closest relationship with her, and who loved her more.

I will tell you I still think of Bubby every day. I still find myself wanting to call her and tell her something exciting. To make her laugh. To make her happy. Today especially, I just want to hug her one more time and have her tell me how much she loves me. What I wouldn’t give to hear her voice again.

Four years later, and I still love and miss my Bubby very much.

Show Girls

26 Nov

The good news is that Burlesque is not the big, hot mess it might appear to be from its trailer and poster. And sure, that’s damning with faint praise, but c’mon … this film just looks like it’s going to be awful — or at the very least, tailor-made for a certain demographic that’s not the one I’m a part of. It’s got Cher as the owner of a burlesque lounge in Los Angeles, and Christina Aguilera as an impressionable-but-smarter-than-she-looks, small-town girl, diamond-in-the-rough performer, whose undeniable talent saves the club when it’s in financial dire straits. And as if that’s not enough, Stanley Tucci plays a gay sidekick (again). But I kinda liked the film anyway.

In her film debut, Aguilera does a decent job. She’s not great, and not awful. She has her moments, but really, it’s all about her singing. Those pipes are hard to deny. The best parts of the movie are, no surprise, whenever she’s on stage performing — probably because they’re like good music videos. The soundtrack features a few songs that burrowed themselves into my brain and are still swimming around (damned ear worms). And there’s eye candy for both genders — the cast also includes Julianne Hough, Kristen Bell, Eric Dane, and Cam Gigandet. Some credit does go to the film’s writer/director, Steve Antin for not asking anyone to do much heavy lifting (other than the singing and dancing, of course), and generally taking his film seriously enough to deliver something that’s sometimes very enjoyable to watch.

That said, part of me kind of wishes Burlesque actually was the hot mess it promised to be. That might have made it a more fun way to spend my time. Sometimes it comes close — some of the dialogue is groan-worthy, Aguilera’s character inhabits so many screen cliches in the first 15 minutes, and Cher’s big number late in the film is a great time to take a bathroom break. The plot itself strains credibility more often than it doesn’t. And I wish there was less handheld cinematography; at times, the film was harder to watch than Cloverfield was.

But in taking itself seriously and not going over the top, Burlesque ends up being a mixed bag: It’s not the kind of film that’s going to win Oscars, but it’s not a prime target for Razzies, either. It’s odd wanting a movie to be worse than it is, but that’s because Burlesque caught me a bit off-guard. I liked it enough to rate it a B–.

I’m Thankful for …

24 Nov

It’s the day before Thanksgiving, so I’m going to continue my annual tradition of giving thanks for some of my favorite things. Here’s a partial list, in no particular order: Continue reading →

It’s a Russian Novel

23 Nov

When Love and Other Drugs first begins, you may think you’re in for a very long next two hours. After all, there’s Jake Gyllenhaal dancing around an electronics store to the sounds of Spin Doctors’ “Two Princes.” Ugh. But damn if the film doesn’t eventually win you over. In the movie, Jake plays Jamie, a charming, slutty sales rep for Pfizer, who meets Maggie (Anne Hathaway) during one of his sales calls. We learn during that first meeting that Maggie has Parkinson’s Disease, and despite that, even though it’s completely out of character, somehow Jamie falls for Maggie. Of course, that’s after the two have sex. Lots and lots of sex. Let’s just say if you need a reason to see this movie, that’s it, and because you see plenty of the two actors. (Not that I’m complaining; they both look great.)

But anyway … with Maggie’s illness looming, you know Love is going to take a more serious turn eventually. And thankfully, the movie doesn’t become a total weepie. That’s partly because Anne and Jake make such a winning couple, and the script by director Edward Zwick, Marshall Herskovitz, and Charles Randolph isn’t a total downer. Zwick has made a film with plenty of intimate, sexy moments, and he’s drawn some good performances from his two leads. Yes, there are some missing details, and some plot points that strain credibility, but Jake and Anne’s great chemistry (yes, better than they had in Brokeback Mountain) makes it easy to overlook them. Thankfully, Love is much better than its opening few minutes would lead you to believe. I’m giving it a B.

What’s the Story?

22 Nov

Morning TV news programs get a gentle tweak in Morning Glory. In the film, Rachel McAdams plays Becky Fuller, an ambitious television producer, who’s hired to breathe life into Daybreak, the fourth-place network morning show. Her solution is to hire gruff veteran newsman Mike Pomeroy (Harrison Ford), who begrudgingly takes the job of sitting alongside the show’s longtime host, Colleen Peck (Diane Keaton), even though he wants nothing to do with the silly antics and lightweight stories. But when the show is threatened with cancellation, all must do whatever it takes to keep Daybreak on the air.

Morning Glory was written by Aline Brosh McKenna, who also penned the screenplay for The Devil Wears Prada, and there are plenty of similarities between the two films. For example, both feature a perky, go-getter heroine who puts work ahead of her personal life, and both feature winning performances by their lead actresses. In this case, McAdams deserves all the credit for why Morning Glory is enjoyable to watch, even when the rest of it isn’t. McAdams helps the screenplay seem better than it is. She’s playing such a peppy, high-spirited person — and she does it so well — that I half-expected Ford to bark at her the famous Lou Grant line, “You’ve got spunk!” (Instead, he tells her she’s got moxie.) But it’s true. After starring in Wedding Crashers, McAdams stayed away from the breezy, lightweight romantic comedies she was offered, and she held out for a decent one. I couldn’t help but think that if Katherine Heigl, who starred in another McKenna film, 27 Dresses, had played Becky, this would have been a much worse film.

Which is not to say that Morning Glory is a masterpiece, or even on the same level as Prada. The first half of the film is better than the second, and other than McAdams, none of the other leads have much to work with; they can’t save the one-note characters they’re playing (Ford especially). And, it should be noted, it’s hard to take a film too seriously when it’s centered around a television network with the unfortunate name of IBS. Yes, Becky saves the show and manages not to lose her boyfriend (Patrick Wilson) in the process. But the fact that she makes Morning Glory watchable is her real triumph. I’m giving the film a B.

Step Back Into Christmas with Me

16 Nov

This really is the most wonderful time of the year. In fact, every year I can’t wait to get past Halloween because that means one thing: It’s time to start work on the year’s edition of A Very Marty Xmas.

2010 will actually be the 10th anniversary edition of my annual mix. That’s right, I’ve been making holiday mixes for 10 years (that is, if you don’t count 2008, which I skipped), and many folks have told me my mixes have become an essential part of their holiday. That’s pretty amusing — and impressive — considering I’m Jewish and all. Continue reading →

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