Welcome to my blog. I write about film. Just remember - there's no fighting in the war room!
All in Review
What do you get when you mix highly stylized western and gangster genres with kung fu (and Looney Tunes) in a pastiche fueled movie mayhem? Kung Fu Hustle (2004), directed by Stephen Chow, is a madcap tale of a young, misguided, wanna-be villain who goes on a journey to become a kung fu master.
This is Spinal Tap burst on the scene in the 1980s as a milestone in the mockumentary genre, kicking off a modern creative investment in the format for film and television. Featuring the directorial debut of Rob Reiner, who also co-wrote and is an actor in the film, and led by the genius trio of Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer, the film utilizes the formal elements of the documentary format to mock the stereotypes of a 1980s rock n’ roll band. The majority of the film was improvised by the actors and while humor is the driving force of the film, it also features pretty great music and also a surprising emotional climax. Let’s turn the volume up to 11 and dive into the woesome adventures of the band Spinal Tap.
The French New Wave is one of the most influential movements in cinema’s storied history. A group of French film critics began making low budget movies in direct contrast with the Tradition of Quality of their country’s film industry, and ended up transforming the idea of cinema - in both narrative and formal style, as well as filmmaking production techniques. One of the most important figures in this movement was director Jean-Luc Godard, whose initial credits helped define the characteristics of New Wave films, and whose career continued well past the Nouvelle Wave’s period. Masculin Feminin (1966) is a prime example of both the New Wave’s style and Godard’s personal commitment to infusing politics into the everyday. Focusing on the youth in Paris, it was ironically age restricted when released in French theaters. The film leans into the New Wave’s elements, which can be disjointed and challenging to viewers, and also speaks directly to the social and political climate that was distinctly Parisian in the mid-1960s, captured as a moment in time.
How does one determine the material that would be a good fit for a musical adaptation? If a range of topics, such as America’s founding fathers to re-creating animated movies to adapting comic book characters can be done - why not take a mobster flick set in the 1960s and pull that onstage with some big Broadway numbers? As it turns out, some material translates better onscreen than onstage and A Bronx Tale (1993) is an example of an excellent film that becomes confounding on the Broadway musical stage (although the story did begin as a one man play, written and performed by Chazz Palminteri in an off-Broadway theater). Despite that fact, Robert De Niro’s directorial debut stands on its own merit as a compelling portrait of a young man growing up in New York City amongst mobsters, racial tensions between neighborhoods, and bursts of reckless violence.
Remaking a film that has been done three times before sets up a baseline challenge for a film’s success. Throw in a major actor’s directorial debut, casting a novice actor to portray the star, and you’ve got a film that is destined to either exceed its potential or completely fall apart. Thankfully, A Star is Born (2018), directed, co-written, and starring Bradley Cooper, alongside a headlining debut of Lady Gaga, delivers on many fronts - artistically, musically, and perhaps more importantly - authentically.
Fever Pitch (2005), directed by the Farrelly brothers, misses on several fronts, but had incredible timing with the rise of the Boston Red Sox’s improbable journey to winning the 2004 World Series, elevating a sub-par rom com to a par rom com, due to a quirk in timing by the baseball gods.
Spike Lee made the best film of 2018 with Blackkklansman. He took a true life story with an incredible premise - a black man infiltrates the KKK - and then pulls no punches in crafting an artistic, funny, overtly political, gut-wrenching, and chilling drama that should be awarded all the accolades it deserves.
Starring a fresh-faced Lou Diamond Phillips and featuring music by the Los Angeles band Los Lobos, La Bamba is a sweet, straightforward film that promotes the importance of the American Dream - working hard, standing by your family, and not giving up on your dreams.
Frank Miller is a legend in the graphic novel and comic realm. For Sin City (2005), he teamed with Robert Rodriguez to deliver a visually stunning adaptation of his work.
There’s no business like show business - and that is the backdrop to the original and remake of The Producers (1967 and 2005 respectively), the first as the premiere feature from writer / director Mel Brooks and the later remake produced after a successful Broadway re-interpretation.
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), directed by Wes Anderson, is quite the diametrical romp - at once a meticulously art directed composition, with an enigmatic performance from lead actor Ralph Fiennes, while also a convoluted storyline that lacks an emotional punch.
Nosferatu: Phantom Der Nacht (1979), written and directed by Werner Herzog, closes out this mini-vampire trilogy (which included the 1920s Nosferatu and Shadow of the Vampire).
Sully, the latest from crazy man Clint Eastwood and every man Tom Hanks, is an ode to the professionalism of workers and a love letter to New York.
Shadow of the Vampire (2000) poses the question - what if a real vampire played the part of Nosferatu in F.W. Murnau’s 1922 film.
Nosferatu (1922) has made its mark on history, not only as the first vampire film, but also as a telling artifact from a turbulent socio-political time, a prominent example of the German Expressionism artistic movement, and an achievement in early filmmaking, especially for special effects.
While it has been some time since I’ve seen Citizen Kane, the film lauded by critics as the greatest film of all time, I am certain that RKO 281 (1999) is not a fitting tribute to the classic. With a wooden script riddled with cliches, a camera that attempts grand shots only to fall into banality, and actors not up to the task of elevating a mediocre script, this is a film about Hollywood that falls far short of the subject’s best output.
Inside Llewyn Davis, a film by the Coen brothers and released in 2013, is a portrait of a specific man in a specific time, playing music that is timeless.
