Films I Watched - June, 2007
Submitted by lbangs on Fri, 06/08/2007 - 12:21
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- 6/7 - Knocked Up - I don't know if you've noticed it lately, but we are in the worst dry stretch of cinematic comedy in the history of film. We make some great epics and some fine independent dramas, but we lose at the laughs. We are so awful, people even believe Will Ferrell and Adam Sandler are hilarious, and they obviously are not (Have you seen the godawful preview for I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry?). The studios cannot conjure up a Tootsie or a Bringing Up Baby with all the money and screenwriters in the world. What’s up? I do not think there is a simple answer, although one theory I play with is that, somewhere in the mid-90s, comedy decided to focus at getting us to laugh at strange things. You can mark the decline in the Coen brothers’ career from the point they gave up crafting intriguing characters and stories and settled for getting us to laugh at strange folks, especially people with accents. Done well, this approach can make some funny stuff, but it easily lapses into laziness. The freak show comes to town, and few people bother to do much more than parade oddities about and expect the easy audience to howl. This marked a sea change from the 80s, when we often laughed at characters we realized were strange and were Us. We related as we laughed. We empathized as we chuckled. The comedy brought drama along for the wild ride. Enter Judd Apatow, a man born in 1967 and raised on the late-70s and 80s comedies. Sure, he is still young enough to be influenced by the nothing-sacred bombshells dropped by the Farrelly brothers, but he is wise enough to mix that in with the more character-driven insightful approach of yesteryear. I don’t know if this quite qualifies as genius, but the man managed one of the finest television shows ever (Freaks & Geeks) and scored one of the few good recent comedies (The 40 Year Old Virgin). He continues working his method with his second film, Knocked Up, and the results are frankly perhaps the best comedy this decade. No, the idea isn’t particularly original, but the way it is handled is. No gross detail is spared, but that honesty goes far beyond gynecological close-ups and extends to a invigorating lack of clichés that extends even to the directing style. The acting is quite natural, building people we recognize rather than circus sideshows desperate for easy guffaws, the writing writes the people as if they were, er, people, and emotions are milked with the humor from the unexpected pregnancy. No wonder Tulsa World’s Michael Smith didn’t like this film! He has no clue what to do with anything that is fresh and unbound by strict genre conventions, and this isn’t nearly neat and tidy enough with traditional tone to satisfy his limited taste. Luckily, the American public seems a little savvier. ****
- 6/22 - The Family Stone - It is a comedy, and I laughed twice, both during moments that were not supposed to be funny. The actors nearly overcome the poor writing, and Rachel McAdams is brunette rather than blonde (whew!), but the script just won’t let this buoy to the surface. It is not nearly as nasty as it was advertised to be, and not nearly funny enough for anybody’s hard-earned dollar. * 1/2
- 6/23 - Bridge to Terabithia - I never read the book - I’m told the main character is far too cute to match her literary likeness - but this modest film has enough going for it to roll right over potential speed bumps, like its bland, obnoxious soundtrack. The special effects are by turn impressive and weak, but they are sufficient to capture that sense of wonder they are aiming to net. At least it is a family film those over ten don’t have to put earbuds on to avoid feeling ill watching. Even better, for many moments, this actually nails the glorious appeal of flights of fancy for those of us still shackled to the ground, and that is no easy or negligible task. ***
- 6/24 - The Godfather - I’ve reviewed this one a billion times, but it is still terrific and still not quite as brilliant as its sequel. ****
- 6/25 - A Mighty Heart - Welcome back, Angelina Jolie. After squandering her talent in junk like Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Gone in 60 Seconds, and the Lara Croft films, she suddenly seems to have remembered all those nice words we said about her back in the late 90s, when she delivered fine performances in Gia and Girl, Interrupted. She starred in the failed, Oscar-desperate The Good Shepherd last year, but here, she truly returns, not just nailing Mariane Pearl's accent or sorrow, but also quietly conveying her strength and resolve. It is probably the best role of her career, and she nails it. Michael Winterbottom is no slouch either, mixing documentary-aping footage with the occasional edit poetically breaking chronology to weave emotional texture into the narrative. The factual basis of the film provides the odd opportunity for a director to craft a thriller ending in dashed hopes, and the clash of a stylized genre crashing against untypical results subverts the film in a way that draws out the tragedy of Daniel Pearl's death. A few scenes seem too ready made for Jolie's Best Actress nomination, and the relationship of the two journalist isn't quite as developed as the script wants it to be, but the film is an unconventional triumph with material that might have made for a steaming pile of Hollywood fertilizer spread in the hopes of so many easy awards. *** 1/2
- 6/30 - Raiders of the Lost Ark - It is hard to realize now, but this film was a little strange when it first arrived in 1981. The closest touchstone for this out-of-time experiment today might be Grindhouse. The genre was the breath-taking cliff-hanging serialized adventures of decades past, and the film even dared to tackle Nazis and World War II with a dated, Saturday matinee feel few major studio releases would dare at the time. In true yesteryear style, the hero was a college professor with an exciting side line of work in relic retrieval. Just take a second, read that again, and think about how silly that sounds. Take that second, because once you watch this rush of a film, you'll never think about how unrealistic that character sounds, nor of how dusty the idea of the plot reads. Instead, you'll cheer for the Harrison Ford creation, the whip-cracking ass-kicking daredevil who loves history and hates snakes, and you'll sit stunned at the incredible action scenes filmed by a young Steven Spielberg working at his peak. He choreographs actors, props, set pieces, edits, and camera swoops like a ballet of sweet sustained suspense. Karen Allen is a perfect foil for Indy, personalities are never sacrificed for cheap laughs (as they too often were in the sequels), the very feel of the sandy ruins and wartime countries is palpable, and even the logic of the plot racing by your head doesn't insult you. Let's be honest - it was a goofy idea, and the film should've bombed as badly as the director's previous 1941 blew. Instead, everybody on set heard the same music and breathed the same musty dangerous air, all the pieces bizarrely fit perfectly into place, and the greatest action film ever made shot through the world like a fiery slug of whistling metal. Or was that the snap of a whip? ****
Author Comments:
I'm rating the films on a zero to **** basis. ** 1/2 is average.
I, for one, am very glad you loved Knocked Up and certainly agree with much of what you wrote (though I'm not sure it was the best comedy of the decade). Your insightful "freak show" comments remind me of something Roger Ebert once wrote: "It seems to me that there are two basic approaches to any kind of comedy, and in a burst of oversimplification I'll call them the Funny Hat and the Funny Logic approaches. The difference is elementary: In the first, we're supposed to laugh because the comic is wearing the funny hat, and in the second it's funny because of his reasons for wearing the funny hat."
These comments actually come from his bad review of a movie I find hilarious (The Jerk), and as you point out, Funny Hats done well can indeed work, but I miss the Funny Logic approach in modern mainstream comedy, which I think Knocked Up has in spades. I too am very glad that America is responding well - the movie has nearly tripled its budget already, which I doubt crap like, say, Fantastic Four 2 can pull off. If the studios see that movies like Knocked Up are the profitable ones, maybe it will mean better luck for moviegoers like us.
And yeah, that I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry preview does look terrible.
You mean somebody actually read the review? Yay!!! :)
It may not be the best comedy of the decade, but I can't recall one at the moment I thought was better. I'll ponder...
Yeah, I totally ripped that idea off of Ebert. I didn't, of course, but it quite striking how alike our ideas here are. It is somewhat affirming - you throw this theories out the window sometimes and just pray they fly.
I do hope to see more quality comedies that strive for that Funny Logic / Laugh-Provoked-Insight (Hannah and Her Sisters and Broadcast News are gold standards for the type of late-80s films I was mentioning in the review; Defending Your Life is a 90s film but also fits the bill) effect, although if films of the other type are funny, I'll take those as well!
Studios are such timid beasts. They'll notice this film's success, make a horrible rip-off, and once it bombs, shrug and muse, "See? Just an anomaly. People don't like this type of movie, not really..."
I try not to always sound so cynical, but it's hard out there for a realist. And a pimp.
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
You're probably right about the studios' reactions, although at least it will mean Judd Apatow will keep finding work.
As for better comedies of the decade, I must confess I still think I preferred The 40-Year-Old Virgin to Knocked Up. Aside from that, I'd say Borat, and then we'd get into whether or not you're counting Sideways or Lost in Translation as comedies. Though if you're talking about what movie made me laugh the most this decade, Knocked Up might be second to Borat.
Those are all excellent films. As pure eomedy, I think Borat and Knocked Up rule the hill in my world.
Lost in Translation is a better film than all these probably, but I'm not sure I'd count it as more comedy than drama. Damn semantics...
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Well, if the two funniest movies of the decade came out in the past eight months, I can only hope that maybe the 2000s are headed in the right direction. Maybe there will be more laughs to come!
That is precisely the hope that dawned on me after reading your post.
Maybe we're turning a corner. It is certainly time; Hollywood comedies have been at a low for far too long...
I'm not holding my breath, but I'll keep my fingers crossed! :)
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
As pretentious as my movie tastes are, I almost totally agree with your Raiders of the Lost Ark review. That movie was a fresh take on a long-gone idea, brilliantly executed. I wonder if it and Star Wars are among the most influential films for the past 20 years of cinema.
They certainly are. Halloween, Blade Runner, Silence of the Lambs, Pulp Fiction, and When Harry Met Sally join those ranks, I reckon.
Another interesting nomination - sex, lies and videotape. No? Yes?
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
My knowledge of the story of film doesn't match my understanding of the story of rock, so I don't feel arrogant enough to answer.
You are writing the finest movie reviews on Listology. Thanks for blessing us with your presence.
I might starting writing my book reviews in your style like I wrote that videogame history in Scaruffi's style. Hope you don't mind. I'm too lazy to get my own style.
Thank you. You are very kind, and of course you can crib what little style I use. I await the reviews.
This marked my second time to watch a film print of Raiders of the Lost Ark on the big screen. What a movie!
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs