A good start to the "good movie" season

[canbelto]

For all the Austenites, that the new adaptation of "Pride and Prejudice" is a fitting tribute to this fine novel. I just came back from seeing it, and it's remarkably faithful (much more so than the 1940 movie version), and strangely enough both Greer Garson and Kiera Knightley have "that something" that bugs me a little, but Kiera has it less than Greer. Kiera's also much more believable as Lizzie Bennett -- with Greer, you got the feeling that she would never run through the rain for fear of getting her hair wet. Kiera's much more energetic and adolescent.

The rest of the movie is well-cast, especially Rosamund Pike as the luminous Jane, Brenda Bethlyn as Mrs. Bennett (I predict an Oscar nod for her), Donald Sutherland as Mr. Bennett, and Tamzin Merchant in the tiny role of Georgina Darcy. Kelly Reilly is deliciously bitchy as Caroline Bingley (she also resembles Carolyn Bessette Kennedy). Jena Malone is a wonderfully flightly Lydia. Judi Dench has a small role of Lady Catherine. Tom Hollander is hilarious as Mr. Collins. And what about Darcy? Matthew MacFayden is perhaps the only slight disappointment in the film. He acts very well, but he cant really erase memories of Laurence Olivier or Colin Firth. But the movie is funny, well-acted, beautifully shot, faithful to the source, well-paced, just a very beautiful adaptation of a novel.

A good start to the "good movie" season.

[Dr. Coppelius]

Kiera rules!

I must see that movie.

Well I just came back from a movie that also have a classic version from the fourties, this new movie of Oliver Twist is made by Roman Polansky.

David Lean´s fantastic movie was in black and white, but I think there was no reason to make another adaption of the Charles Dickens novel, and Alec Guinness had already done a perfect Fagin.

Roman Polansky did a good work, and Ben Kingsley is not bad, he even put some humanity in Fagin, but I prefer the old black and white movie.

[canbelto]

I saw "Walk the Line" today and am happy to report that it actually transcends the cliched singer biopic genre, largely due to Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon. They do their own singing, and the movie focuses on their love story, and I guess I'm just a big sap for these kinds of life-long love stories. And I dont even like country music. So it has my recommendation

[dirac]

Thank you for reporting, canbelto. I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to muster up the energy for “Walk the Line,”which I can’t help thinking of as “Ray: The Cracker Version.” I assume that Reese is a lock for a nomination and Joaquin has a good chance, too, and that’s all we really need to know about it. However, your review makes me rethink matters, and maybe I will go.

They do their own singing.

I sometimes think that too much is made of this. I don’t object to lip synching per se, it’s just ludicrous when it’s done badly. If I were a Cash a/o Carter fan, a primary lure for the picture would be the opportunity to hear lots of my favorites on the big screen, and I’d sooner hear the originals than actors’ imitations, however good they are. Jessica Lange’s Patsy Cline and Jamie Foxx’s Charles made you believe that those voices were issuing from their bodies, which is the main consideration IMO.

As for Pride and Prejudice, the mere thought of seeing another Austen adaptation makes me want to stick needles in my eyes, but I’ll probably get round to it eventually. I'm glad to hear it's good.

I didn’t see the new “Oliver Twist,” Dr. Coppelius, but your account of it sounds plausible. No actor could get away with Alec Guinness’ Fagin today, and he almost didn’t back then. (Fagin is played not only as a creepy Jew, but one who leers scarily at little boys. He’s great, and it’s Dickensian, but oh, dear.)

[sandik]

If I may add to the pocket reviews -- the newest in the Harry Potter franchise.

It hangs together as a film quite well, though with every jump cut I thought "wait, what happened to all the stuff about...?" The book is long, and if Mike Newell had tried to film every subplot I would still be in the theater (24 hours later) but I'm wondering what will happen when they get to the exceptionally long books in the series. I'm afraid that, even after paring them down to their main plot points, they are still ages long.

However, that is the future's problem. There is, in the current film, a charming set of dance scenes, especially when Maggie Smith is teaching the students how to dance in preparation for the Yule Ball. Her rhapsodic speech about the swan inside every girl and the lion inside every boy was absolutely stunning. And the opening of the ball, where they all do a kind of set waltz with a little hop in it, was charming -- you don't notice that they're doing something specific until the first lift, and then everything that looked like awkward shuffling around and mistaken handholds turns out to be real choreography. It was made by Wayne MacGregor -- I'd seen his work for Random Dance, but not anything else, and now would like to see more.

[Old Fashioned]

As for Pride and Prejudice, the mere thought of seeing another Austen adaptation makes me want to stick needles in my eyes, but I’ll probably get round to it eventually. I'm glad to hear it's good.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I was amused to read a review of the new P&P (I think in the New Yorker?) to see that this adaptation has been "Bronte-fied" and Darcy was turned into a sort of Heathcliff, not disimilar to something you said before.

[dirac]

I suspect that Darcy as written just isn’t fiery enough for contemporary P&Ps.

Her rhapsodic speech about the swan inside every girl and the lion inside every boy was absolutely stunning.

Nice to hear that gender stereotyping is getting underway early.

I’m not crazy about the Harry Potter pictures so far, but they do give a lot of terrific English actors good material. Thanks for the report!

[sandik]

Her rhapsodic speech about the swan inside every girl and the lion inside every boy was absolutely stunning.

Nice to hear that gender stereotyping is getting underway early.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Oh, it made me cringe (and many of the characters), but it was very right for the actor and the moment.

[canbelto]

Ok, I happily announce another winner: Good Night and Good Luck. It's probably not mainstream enough to actually win any Oscars, but it certainly deserves some nominations. The story of Edward Murrow's campaign to expose Joseph McCarthy is so well-known that it could have been a "civics lesson" but instead it's a fascinating study of news journalism, in all its chain-smoking, neurotic glory. David Straithorn doesnt just play Murrow -- he really embodies him. When I saw pictures of the real Edward Murrow I was surprised to see that they really didnt look alike. That's how strong Straithorn's performance is. And instead of getting an actor to play Joseph McCarthy, George Clooney made the decision simply to use newsreels of the frightening senator and his creepy sidekick Roy Cohn. There's also a very funny newsreel segment with Liberace in which the flamer discusses marriage.

Like The Insider, this movie probably wont win any Oscars, but it deserves to. Highly recommended.

[dirac]

It’s a good little picture. Most actors-turned-director tend to be not much more than competent, but Clooney seems to have a genuine knack for pace and staging. The concept didn’t really give Strathairn a chance to show all he can do, but what he did was plenty for this viewer.

I could have done without the secret marriage subplot, which goes nowhere and is not that interesting in itself. Clooney does some eliding of the facts – for example, the movie makes it appear as if “See It Now” loses its regular time slot as a direct result of the McCarthy flap, when actually the change occurred some time later. The Annie Lee Moss situation had some knotty points that weren’t indicated. I also wish that he’d found some time for Murrow’s own divided feelings about his broadcast. Television news was still new (most people were still getting their news from the papers at this time) and its potential capacity for character assassination still largely unexplored. Senator McCarthy was hardly the most sympathetic of victims, and in a sense all Murrow did was hand him enough rope, but this aspect was worth mentioning and would have added complexity.

Loved all the smoking and drinking. Maybe not the healthiest way to live, but it sure looks like fun. I enjoy any opportunity to hear Dianne Reeves, but the jazz singing interludes got to be a bit much.

I thought the Liberace segment was a bit of a cheap shot, myself.

[justafan]

I give Good Night and Good Luck a rave. Clooney really made some excellent directorial choices here -- from the exceptional casting to the use of the newsreel footage to the oblique statements about the state of the times and the media. (ie the smoking and incredible smoking ad.)

That's why I thought the Liberace piece was critical to the movie. Clearly it was included to show Murrow's deep misgivings about how he was conducting his career and building CBS news. The great wartime journalist was reduced to nattering on with Liberace, asking him about potential marriage plans -- which obviously Murrow understood was a sham. It was all depressingly beneath him and his idea of what television news could and should be. I didn't think it was a cheap shot at all.

[Helene]

I'm not sure if this has opened in the US yet, but when I was in London, I saw Mrs. Henderson Presents, the new Stephen Frears movie starring Judi Dench and Bob Hoskins. It's based on the true story of a woman who used part of her inheritance to open a theater during the WWII era; it opened with vaudeville, but when that formula was copied, introduced nude tableaus into the mix, much to the delight of the soldiers in town. Christopher Guest has a wonderful small but intermittent role as Lord Crowmer, who is in charge of enforcing decency standards for the stage.

Mrs. Henderson Presents was a bit sentimental in a Hollywood way -- when did the BBC get so Merican? -- but it was Dench's movie, and well worth it.

[canbelto]

I agree that the subplot about the married reporters goes nowhere, except maybe to give a sense of the insular, conservative old boys club atmosphere of journalism at the time.

I thought the Liberace segment was clever. It was a humorous moment in a film that tackled a very serious issue, and footage of the very obviously gay Liberace talking about marriage was just good comic relief. It also gave the viewers a sense of the precarious state of news journalism at the time -- someone as serious as Murrow had to do these segments just to get sponsors.

[sandik]

I thoroughly enjoyed Good Night..., especially the art direction. The use of black and white throughout the film let them use extensive kinescope footage, very deftly. The McCarthy material is the most important, but there is alot of other stuff salted throughout, and it works extremely well.

I was touched by the scene in the bar where they're waiting for the newspaper reviews of their McCarthy show. Electronic news is so pervasive today, I think we forget that originally people in radio and television felt a bit inferior to their colleagues who worked in print.

[dirac]

True. If I recall correctly, Murrow was the first pure broadcaster with no background in print to establish himself as a major force in reporting.

To clarify my “cheap shot” remark. I thought that selecting a piece where Liberace talks about marriage was kind of an easy laugh at the expense of the closet case, and the point that justafan notes could have been made differently. I didn’t think it was a big deal, though.

There’s a nice bit when the Liberace segment ends and there’s a shot of Strathairn just sitting there. He is very good at still moments like that; I recall a similar one in Eight Men Out.

[dirac]

I caught “Walk the Line” this weekend. The musical performances were the highlight for me, and in view of all the duets it was indeed wise not to go for lip synching. I wouldn’t pay money for a recording of Phoenix and Witherspoon, but for the purposes of the picture they are more than okay.

[canbelto]

Unlike last season, this seems to be an unusually strong movie season. And Brokeback Mountain and Memoirs of a Geisha havent even been released yet.

I've heard nothing but raves for Syriana, although I havent seen it yet.

I think we can pencil in David Straithorn and Joaquin Phoenix for Best Actor. From what I've heard, I think we can also pencil in Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal. For the women, the "buzz" is that Michelle Yeoh, Gong Li, and Zhang Ziyi are all excellent in Memoirs of a Geisha. I think Reese Witherspoon will definitely get a nod.

For Best Director, I'm betting that Ang Lee and George Clooney (for Goodnight and Goodluck) as well as Stephen Gaghan (Syriana) will probably get nods.

[dirac]

Barring supernatural intervention of some kind, I think it’s perfectly safe to say that for a variety of reasons, Reese Witherspoon will be taking home a statuette.

[canbelto]

Barring supernatural intervention of some kind, I think it’s perfectly safe to say that for a variety of reasons, Reese Witherspoon will be taking home a statuette.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I agree, although I happen to think that in Walk the Line June's character was pretty underdeveloped. She gets married and divorced twice without any explanation. Still Witherspoon did a remarkable job of sounding like June Carter, and she also does her best with this role -- the steel beneath the sunny country music bubbliness.

But still, I wonder if after years of stellar performances, this might Zhang Ziyi's year to cross into superstardom. I'd love for that to happen, personally.

The real race-horse might be the Best Actor category. Joaquin Phoenix, Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, George Clooney, and David Straithorn all look to be hot contenders.

[Treefrog]

Has anyone seen The Squid and the Whale?

I'm not one to comment on cinematic virtues. I'm a content kind of person. The portrayals of this dissolving family left me cringeing in horror and sympathy. My husband and I actually started arguing about which of our friends and relations were MOST like the emotionally frigid father/husband. We know a couple who share that insistence on their rights vis a vis the children, all the while remaining oblivious to their obligations and what's best for the kids.

[dirac]

The Squid and the Whale is playing close by and I’ve been intending to see it, but haven’t had an opportunity. I like Laura Linney and I think Jeff Daniels, though not star material, is a very underrated actor.

I’m not sure how separate content is from style. I imagine that if you found The Squid and the Whale involving, it probably has plenty of cinematic virtues that don’t necessarily hit you in the eye, so you may be appreciating them without realizing it. If a picture is poorly written, shot, and acted, even the most interesting story will fail.

I happen to think that in Walk the Line June's character was pretty underdeveloped. She gets married and divorced twice without any explanation.

True, but I think the script did better by her than it did by Phoenix. (I think Witherspoon is a lock not only because she's excellent in Walk the Line, but for other extra-aesthetic reasons. )

[Treefrog]

I absolutely agree with you about cinematics probably being good if you like the film. I meant only that I don't know enough to notice them or comment on them.

dirac, I'd love to hear your thoughts when you do get to see it.

[dirac]

I meant only that I don't know enough to notice them or comment on them.

You know more than you think, I'm sure. I had actually been thinking of trying to see it this week, as you never know how long the little movies will hang around. If I do, I'll definitely report back.

[dirac]

Treefrog, I saw The Squid and the Whale. I thought it was very good. The writer-director, Noah Baumbach, seems to have had a little trouble wrapping things up – all of a sudden it’s over without much preparation – but it was refreshing to see a movie that I wanted to go on longer. The family bust-up material is dangerously familiar, but the writing and the acting are very fresh. Jeff Daniels was as good as I expected and so was Laura Linney and everyone else, although William Baldwin took me aback until I got used to him. The father is indeed monstrous, although Linney doesn’t shy away from showing us a certain ruthlessness in her character – you get the impression that in the end this woman will have what she wants and get rid of what she doesn’t want, and nothing’s going to get in the way of that.

[lthomass]

If anyone hasn't seen it yet "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" is an excellent movie. My son had a snow day on Friday, so we took advantage of it to go to the matinee movie (cheaper and less crowded). Both my 11 and 19 yr old sons enjoyed it immensely. It follows true to the book and the actress that plays Lucy is very captivating and has beautiful eyes. It was so good that we will all go back again, this time with my husband. If you like LOTR you will like this movie. It is very hard to tell when the computer animation ends and the real stuff starts. The first 10 minutes will have you wanting to cry, even my oldest said it pulls at your heartstrings. The scenery both in England and New Zealand is gorgeous. Just an excellent family movie, suitable for kids of all ages. And I heard this morning on my way home from work that it had done very well at the box office over the weekend. Good news for family friendly films!