CEDAR RAPIDS Gets Ed Helms Out Of The Office

CEDAR RAPIDS (Dir. Miguel Arteta)

This new comedy is only playing in Raleigh at the Regal North Hills Stadium 14, and it’s in one of their smallest theaters. That’s a shame because it’s a winning film that’s as charming as it is lovably crude, wonderfully carried by Ed Helms (The Office, THE HANGOVER).

The straight-laced and extremely dorky Helms is a small town insurance salesman whose boss (Stephen Root) sees as the “kid who was going places, but then…didn’t.”

When hot shot salesman Thomas Lennon (The State, Reno 911) dies from auto-erotic asphyxiation, Helms is sent in his place to the annual insurance industry convention in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Helms, who amusingly is having a fling with his much older former elementary school teacher (a sly Sigourney Weaver), is nervous about going, especially since he’s never left his home town or been on an airplane before.

Upon leaving, Root warns Helms to stay away from John C. Reilly as a sleazy possible client poacher, and, yep, that’s who he turns out having to room with at the hotel.

Luckily his other room-mate is the more sincere Isiah Whitlock Jr. (Clay Davis from The Wire) who uses snappy phrases like L.A.C. (Loud And Clear) and “and at the end of the day that’s N.T.S. – that’s Not Too Shabby.”

There’s also the surprisingly appealing performance by Anne Heche as another convention veteran who ferociously flirts with Helms.

So our hapless hero Helms’ goal is to win the coveted 2 Diamonds Award by schmoozing insurance association president Kurtwood Smith (most likely best known as the dad on That ‘70s Show, but I prefer to think of him as the villain in the first ROBOCOP).

But Relliy’s partying antics, the temptation of Heche, and a brewing bribery scandal may thwart Helm’s path to victory.

There are a lot of laughs in CEDAR RAPIDS, most of the clever character based variety that was so missing from the raunchy-for-the-sake-of-raunch of the recent Farrelly Brothers flick “Hall Pass”.

In fact, there have been few comedy films lately that feel like they have real empathy for the people on the screen. Helms gives us a guy whose naivety we initially laugh at, but come to laugh with as the film goes on.

He comes off like a big kid, but not like man-children in the films of Judd Apatow, he’s more about the wide-eyed giddy feeling of learning things for the first time.

In this movie that giddiness is hilariously endearing, and at the end of the day that’s N.T.S.

More later…

Blu Ray Review: THE EXTRA MAN

Now out on Blu ray, DVD, and scheduled to be available streaming on Netflix Instant starting 12/16/2010:

THE EXTRA MAN (Dirs. Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini, 2010)

This film, which I initially thought was too quirky for its own good, grew on me quite a bit. Kevin Kline has been in so few movies lately that it’s extremely pleasing to see him sink his teeth into a juicy role, and the role here is a beaut.

As seen through the eyes of Paul Dano as a young aspiring writer with delusions of “Great Gatsby”-ish grandeur, we meet Kline as Henry Harrison – an eccentric failed playwright who lives off of the splendor of rich old ladies as he describes: “A fine meal, vintage champagne…an orchestra perhaps.”

You see the scraggily gray haired mustached Kline considers himself an “extra man.” He explains:

“You see women outlive men so there’s always a need for an extra man at the table. It maintains a proper seating arrangement. Boy-girl, boy-girl.”

Dano, who was kicked out of a teaching position at Princeton and came to New York to “find himself”, rents a room from Kline and gets a job doing phone sales for an environmental magazine. Dano is fascinated by Kline’s philosophies and tricks like how to get into the opera for free.

As a fellow flighty co-worker, Katie Holmes becomes the object of Dano’s affection, but there’s a little snag in his plans as she has an activist boyfriend and, uh, Dano has a bit of a cross dressing issue.

In one of the most off-kilter performances of his career, John C. Reilly appears in a small part as a grizzly wide-eyed neighbor of Kline’s who speaks in falsetto. Reilly’s part doesn’t really fit in at first, but as the film goes on it becomes an inexactractable piece of the quirky quilt.

Though it’s largely Dano’s movie, Kline is who keeps it rolling with his witty line readings and chutzpah – a scene in which he teaches Dano how to take a leak while standing between parked cars on the street has more cheeky charm than one could imagine with that description.

What’s less successful is the handling of Dano’s sexual deviance. Scenes of the droopy sad eyed actor fondling brassieres and trying on women’s clothes are cringe-worthy and don’t add much to the more interesting material involving the wealthy women Kline is trying to woo.

A subplot involving Celia Weston as a wannabe socialite and somewhat rival of Kline’s isn’t explored fully, likewise Patti D’Arbanville’s skimpy part as a dominatrix that Dano hires.

These flaws aside, THE EXTRA MAN is just amusing enough to be recommended. It’s not as essential a film as director Berman and Pulcini’s AMERICAN SPLENDOR, but it’s fairly agreeable entertainment nonetheless.

Special Features: a commentary with Kevin Kline and author Jonathan Ames (“Bored To Death”) who wrote the original novel, a second commentary with the co-directors + crew, a deleted scene, a clip of the voice recording for a cartoon clip, a behind the scene featerette of the musical score, and HDNet: A look at THE EXTRA MAN.

More later…

CYRUS: The Film Babble Blog Review

CYRUS (Dirs. Jay Duplass & Mark Duplass, 2010)

“I’m like Shrek! What are you doing here in the forest with Shrek?” John C. Reilly jokingly asks Marisa Tomei after successfully determining that she’s flirting with him at a party. Although, or maybe because, she walked up on him taking a leak in the bushes it’s definitely a “meet cute.” *

Reilly almost jeopardizes the moment by running back in the house when he hears Human League’s “Don’t You Want Me” come on the stereo, drunkenly yelling “dance party!” Using his beer bottle as a microphone he sings along and tries to get others to join him.

When nobody does, Tomei saves the scene by entering the room singing and dancing along. Before you know it their previously embarrassed and snickering fellow party goers are right there with the couple singing and dancing along with them to the classic ‘80s synth pop song.

See? A meet cute.

Reilly is a divorced lovable lug of a guy who is still close to his ex wife (Catherine Keener) although she is about to get re-married. Reilly hasn’t dated in ages and it’s easy to see why he is instantly smitten with Tomei. The woman of his dreams though has a secret. Thinking she’s married he follows her one night and finds out what it is – she has a grown son (Jonah Hill) who still lives at home.

Their first encounter Hill is polite and though he makes odd awkward jokes (“it’s great to finally have a new dad”) he seems to be cool with Reilly dating his mother. However clues start to form that that’s not the case like when Reilly wakes up the next morning and can’t find his shoes.

Over time more clashing occurs when Hill has panic attacks that Reilly suspects are faked. When Hill moves out then wants to move back in, Reilly confronts him and it’s obvious that the weirdness between them has now become war.

Director brothers Jay and Mark Duplass take another step away from the “mumblecore” movement they helped found (their last one was their entertaining indie thriller “Baghead”) here by using name actors and a more conventional structure. Unfortunately they haven’t left behind sloppy camera work – the zoom ins and outs are overdone and the staging of many shots is shakier than shaky cam should be.

CYRUS has comic moments, but can’t really be considered a comedy.

Reilly and Hill may be Judd Apatow repertory players, but here they’re servicing a story that tries more for tears than laughs. Although it rarely gets either it’s a quirky diversion that may be worth a film goers’ time depending on whether they are a fan of the actors.

* Roger Ebert, who popularized the term, describes a “meet cute” as when “somebody runs into somebody else, and then something falls, and the two people began to talk, and their eyes meet and they realize that they are attracted to one another.”

More later…

Soundtrack September Selection #4: WALK HARD (2007)

Soundtrack September Selection #4 comes from Angie & Chantale at Cinema Obsessed. They picked a sublime soundtrack indeed:

WALK HARD: THE DEWEY COX STORY

“Oh man, did this movie surprise us. As much faith as we have in Judd Apatow and John C. Reilly, they just don’t make spoofs like they used to. We’re SO done with these “Not Another ‘blank‘ Movies.” They just throw in every pop-culture reference they can think of, and have entirely lost the true meaning of spoofing. I mean honestly, what does Amy Winehouse have to do with a Disaster movie? Ridiculous.

Back to the film at hand. Walk Hard had a brilliant soundtrack, full of original songs that fit the decades they are emulating PERFECTLY. Many critics praised the soundtrack, saying the songs were not only funny, catchy and well-written, but perfectly reflected the genres and times of the film.

The soundtrack was nominated for both a Grammy and Golden Globe Award and was nominated and won the Sierra Award for Best Song in a Motion Picture from the Las Vegas Film Critics Society. (Wikipedia)

Some of the influences (in story AND in music) of Dewey Cox are:

Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Jim Morrison, Brian Wilson, Glen Campbell, Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis, Donovan, John Lennon, Sir Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, but mainly Johnny Cash.

Reilly was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance. Not only was it comedic triumph, but he played guitar and sang his own songs.

The film was actually a flop, earning less at the box office than the film’s budget, but received critical acclaim later, especially for the brilliant soundtrack.

Here you see Dewey’s early music in the 50s (as a 14 year-old. Yes. Hilarious). His utterly offensive and blasphemous Take My Hand. As Dewey’s unsupportive father tells him, “You know who’s got hands? The DEVIL! And he uses ’em for holdin’ things!”

Below we get a taste of Dewey’s 70s Bob Dylan phase, when he’s wacked out on drugs and writing very “deep” songs.

Lyrics:

Mailboxes drip like lampposts in the twisted birth canal of the coliseum
Rim job fairy teapots mask the temper tantrum
O’ say can you see ’em
Stuffed cabbage is the darling of the Laundromat
‘N the sorority mascot sat with the lumberjack
Pressing passing stinging half synthetic fabrication of his– Time
The mouse with the overbite explained how the rabbits were ensnared
‘N the skinny scanty sylph trashed the apothecary diplomat
Inside the three-eyed monkey within inches of his toaster oven liiife…

Not to be missed is the title track, Walk Hard, and the lovely Let’s Duet, a wonderful piece of harmonious, hilarious innuendo.”

For more Sublime Soundtracks, visit cinemaobsessed.com.

More later…

9: The Film Babble Blog Review

9 (Dir. Shane Acker, 2009)

I have the feeling that future historians are going to think that we, or at least the film makers of our time, had a ginormous global death wish – what with all the post apocalyptic movie premises out there. And we haven’t even gone down THE ROAD yet either! So with another “world after war” weary setting comes the animated 9 – releasing conveniently enough tomorrow on 9/09/09 (mind you, this year also offers DISTRICT 9 and NINE). In the film though 9 isn’t a date, it’s the number given to a “stitch punk” – the ninth sentient rag doll made by a scientist (voiced by Alan Oppenheimer) as the world was on the brink of destruction.

After 9 (Elijah Wood) comes to in the home of the scientist he finds the other rag dolls (1-8) hiding in the rubble from evil creature-like machines that are hunting them through the darkness. This is not a movie that necessarily needs name actors to provide voices but they’re there – joining Wood as his fellow stitch punks is Christopher Plummer, Jennifer Connelly, Crispin Glover, Martin Landau, and seemingly the sole source of humor and warmth in the entire project – John C. Reilly (Reilly has what may be the one single funny line). 9 rallies the rag dolls to stand up and fight the tyrannical mechanical monsters, believing that he’s discovered the means and the meaning behind it all to defeat them.

Resembling a TERMINATOR movie as imagined by Tim Burton (who executive produced), 9 is too dark and scary for kids (hence its PG-13 rating) and it’s strained structure may be too dragging for adults. It’s too thin a narrative to even fill its short running time (79 minutes); it’s as if its only ambition was to be aestetically absorbing. Still, there are a few top notch action sequences and I adored one intensely striking scene in which the stitch punks find a phonograph and put the needle down on “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” for a brief relaxed interlude while the machines slowly approach on the horizon. 9 is an admirable effort on many levels, mostly in the high caliber of the animation, but ultimately comes off as cold and dystopian as the world our rag doll rebels are struggling to rise above.

More later…

Pop Culture 101: Today’s Class – WALK HARD

What better way to celebrate the holidays than to have another lesson in pop culture provided again by Judd Apatow and his cronies? Their new movie WALK HARD: THE DEWEY COX STORY follows the trajectory of a dramatized career overview and hits many familiar targets so it’s a perfect professor for our forum. First up – A review of said film:

WALK HARD: THE DEWEY COX STORY (Dir. Jake Kasdan, 2007)

Dewey Cox (John C. Reilly) now joins the ranks of The Rutles as well as the Christopher Guest cinematic concoctions Spinal Tap and The Folksmen: that is fictitious musical entities created not just to satirize specific artists or styles but an entire sweep of eras and cultural contexts. Of course it’s obvious by the title alone that the chief model of mockery here is WALK THE LINE – the fine but formulaic Johnny Cash biopic. The riffing on the tried and true formula of the modern music biopic (THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY, LA BAMBA, COAL MINER’S DAUGHTER, THE DOORS, etc.) is the name of the game here and for the most part it’s well played.

From his meager beginnings, oh you know the story – he grew up on a farm with a stern father (Raymond J. Barry) and a loving doting mother (Margo Martindale) and a brother (Chip Hormess – later played as a ghost by Jonah Hill) who he accidentally cut in half with machete, Cox discovers the blues and quickly becomes a star with his hybrid brand of jukebox glory. Just as quickly he is turned on by his drummer (Tim Meadows) to marijuana – “it’s not habit forming!” then over the years every other drug known to man. Also just as fast he meets the woman of his dreams – back up singer Darlene Madison (Jenna Fischer from the US version of The Office). He marries her before divorcing his first wife – the nagging Kirsten Wiig (SNL) and when found out is left by both women. This ushers in his dark period and we know this because Cox exclaims “this is a dark fucking period!” So I need not go on plotwise – from darkness to redemption, you get the picture. John C. Reilly carries the movie wonderfully – his singing on the sharp song satires is very strong, his wide-eyed airhead gusto is authentic, and his delivery of lines like “I’m locked in a custody battle right now. Custody is being enforced upon me which I don’t think is right” is dead on.

WALK HARD is very amusing but not roaringly hilarious – the tickling my funny bone got amounted to a series of chuckles though they were plenty enough to keep me smiling. I appreciated its tone and take on the smart-dumb kind of comedy, one that has more heart than those the smarmy scatological joke-a-minute SCARY MOVIE series that’s for sure. One of many running jokes is that there isn’t any subtext – everything is said out loud like in these random lines:

“Dewey Cox needs to think about his entire life before he plays.”

“The 60’s are an exciting and important time.”

“That was early Dewey, this is middle Dewey.”

WALK HARD continues Apatow’s winning streak (yes, I know he didn’t direct but he co-wrote produced and it’s being promoted as his enterprise) and gives us what we’ve been waiting for all these years – a full out John C. Reilly showcase (okay, maybe I’m the only one’s who’s been waiting). Take that, Joaquin Phoenix in WALK THE LINE! Eat it, Dennis Quaid in GREAT BALLS OF FIRE! In your face, RAY! Y’all gonna have to stand aside because though he surely won’t take home an Oscar for this (and that’s a damn shame) I predict that Reilly’s lampoon will have a longer lasting effect than their earnest yet often bland biopic offerings.

So now onto the Pop Culture 101 Schooling:

Warning: Many Potential Spoilers

Like I said above, of course the life and legacy of the late great Johnny Cash by way of WALK THE LINE provide the film’s narrative arc and it’s most evident in the first act with Cox’s clothes, mannerisms, his first hit record (the title song), and the dead brother all borrowed from the Man in Black. However the winning over of skeptical African American music purists comes from THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY and Buddy Holly appears briefly played by Frankie Muniz (Malcolm In The Middle). Muniz actually has a more accurate physical appearance than Gary Busey did to Holly in the 1978 biopic and he establishes a Cox tradition of calling celebrities by their full name as in – “I’m awful nervous, Buddy Holly.”

The only exception to the full name is Elvis portrayed by Jack White of the White Stripes. The blatant mis-casting is part of the joke here as White does an exaggerated cartoon version of the King’s swagger – “look out! I could chop a man in half!” Elvis also had a dead brother – a twin that died at birth and as legend has it haunted him his whole life so there’s that too.

After his first dance with cocaine (of course provided by Meadows) Cox inadvertenly invents punk rock. Dave (Matt Besser), Dewey’s guitarist, protests “ain’t nobody gonna listen to music like this. You stand there playing as fast as you can looking like some kind of… punk.”

Cox’s Dylan period is pretty defined as well – in a bit made to look like mid 60’s grainy black and white press conference footage an interviewer even puts forth – “people are saying that your new music sounds a lot like Bob Dylan”. Cox responds “well maybe Bob Dylan sounds a lot like me!” We get a few other DON’T LOOK BACK-esque shots of Cox in Bob mode – singing lyrics like “mailboxes drip like lampposts in the twisted birth canal of the coliseum” (written by folk singer songwriter Dan Bern) and another has him wearing the same Triumph motorcycle t-shirt under a mod emblemed dress shirt just like Dylan wore on the cover of “Highway 61 Revisited”.

During the short time that WALK HARD shared the theatre I work at part-time with I’M NOT THERE (at the end of its run) I noted that both twisted anti-biopics have 2 sets of actors playing The Beatles. They are just briefly seen extras in I’M NOT THERE but they are all name cameos (to some degree) in WALK HARD. Paul Rudd (on the left) plays John Lennon, Jack Black does a horrid yet still aptly amusing Paul McCartney impression, Justin Long (the Mac guy from those commercials) does a passable George Harrison, and Jason Swartzman does an odd constipated clinched teeth take on Ringo Starr’s heavy Liverpudlian accent.

After witnessing their bickering Cox remarks “it seems like there’s a rift happening between The Beatles.” He drops acid with the fab four and has a animated YELLOW SUBMARINE derived hallucinatory experience. “We’re the trippy cartoon Beatles” Ringo (I think) says in case we didn’t make the connection.

A Brian Wilson descent into madness (complete with paisley attire and Wrecking Crew style accompaniment) follows as Cox attempts to make his highly orchestrated masterpiece that none of his fellow band members understand – i.e. the ill-fated “Smile” sessions. Inspired by Wilson’s outrageous recording methods (right down to the use of barnyard animals for sound effects) and friction with the rest of the Beach Boys, Cox’s resulting song – “Black Sheep” is, though ridiculous, a pretty groovy track.

A decade later Cox has a TV show which is most certainly based on The Johnny Cash Show but there’s also a Sonny and Cher/Laugh In variety show element to it too. His version of David Bowie’s “Starman” done with an astronaut outfit and dancing space girls is taken from many embarrassing attempts by outdated acts in the 70’s to crossover and connect with younger audiences on the small screen. The disco-fied version of the title song also drives the point home.

Late-period Dewey has him finding out that his music has been sampled by rapper L’il Nutzzak (Jacques Slade) which is perhaps inspired by Ice-T’s defense during the “Cop Killer” crisis of ’93 – “When people criticize the lyrics of rap music, I tell them to listen to ‘Folsom Prison’ – “I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die.” I’ve never heard any rap song that hard-core.” In general though it’s just a comment on the younguns yet again co-opting the old guard.

Lastly let’s look at the promotional materials – the poster picture (on the left) is based on the famous “Young Lion” photo of Jim Morrison taken by Joel Brodsky in 1967 (on the right) though the film itself has little DOORS spoofing except in a general ‘a rock star gets trashed way’. This is right in line with the posters for THE 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN and KNOCKED UP – all you have to do feature a large close-up of the goofy looking protagonist and the crowds are sure to flock to the multiplex. Don’t know if the image of John C. Reilly’s mocking mug is going to put bums in the seats but I still find it funny.

The advertising campaign for WALK HARD includes a joking attempt to get the film nominated for an Academy Award – as Apatow said “our movie is the dumbest movie to ever beg for an Oscar.” Imitating iconic Johnny Cash’s famous giving the Nashville music industry the bird pose in an infamous ad in Billboard Magazine*, Cox makes his position well known. I do think the soundtrack is award worthy but against such competition as HAIRSPRAY and SWEENY TODD I seriously doubt that it will get any gold.

* The shots scanning up a page of Billboard charts to see the artist’s record hit #1 – (usually lit up) is a music biopic cliché from Hell! I can’t think of a film in the genre in which that doesn’t appear.

Now I’m sure I’ve missed many individual pop culture points and just about every trailer or TV spot I’ve seen has material not in the movie but I thought it was best to just concentrate on what’s in the theatrical release. When the DVD comes out I may do a revised edition of this Pop Culture 101 entry.

More later…

Dogs, DREAM GIRLS On DVD, And A Doc Full Of Diatribes

“Take myself and subtract movies and the remainder is zero.”
– Akira Kurosawa

My sentiments exactly Mr. Kurosawa. More movies to cover so let’s get to ’em. The first one I saw at my local home town theater a few days back and there was only one other person in attendance. Pretty fitting as my review makes plain:

YEAR OF THE DOG (Dir. Mike White, 2007)

Likable Mike White’s (screenwriter of CHUCK & BUCK, THE GOOD GIRL, SCHOOL OF ROCK) directorial debut features the very likable Molly Shannon in her first starring role since the SNL derived and much derided SUPERSTAR as a lonely woman who just got lonelier because of the death of her beloved beagle named Pencil. Encouraged by friends (mostly Regina King) she tries to use the incident to jump-start her love life but with such unlikely mates as gruff nextdoor neighbour John C. Reilly or touchy feely animal caretaker Peter Sarsgaard that doesn’t look very likely. The first half of this “situation tragedy” (as White calls it) is pretty breezy, quirky and mildly amusing. The second half in which Shannon sabotages her job and family ties while trying to rescue every dog at the pound takes a nose dive into tedious cringe-inducing and worse – predictable pathos. YOTD is lamentable – it’s a movie with a very likable cast but not one likable character. Hell, even the dogs aren’t very likable in this movie. More 2006 flicks that I didn’t make it to in the theaters but now can catch up with on DVD. I’ll start with with the big-ass mock Motown musical:

DREAMGIRLS (Dir. Bill Condon, 2006)

“Maybe I should go see it with my lawyer.” – Diana Ross on Letterman 1/07

So, the rise and rise of the Supremes-styled girl group The Dreams was the central premise of the popular early 80’s award-winning Broadway show that also tied together other R&B also-rans into a tight show-piece spectacular. For the movie version the Motown connection is enhanced – first by changing the locale directly from Chicago to Detroit, second by making slick but slimey Jamie Foxx’s Berry Gordy-esque payola scandal into a pivitol plotpoint, and third by having the wardrobe mesmerizingly mirror every album-cover fashion trend in the African American community from ’62-’79. Beyonce Knowles plays Deena – the Diana Ross of this piece with fellow Dreamettes Anika Noni Rose as wide-eyed innocent Lorrell (who doens’t have much of a part) and most gloriously former American Idol loser Jennifer Hudson as Effie who steals the show and the movie from everybody and righteously got an Oscar for it.

Eddie Murphy who didn’t take home the gold still puts in his best acting in years as James “Early” Thunder who comes on like James Brown by way of Jackie Wilson in his 60’s incarnation, then an almost complete transformation into message-music era Marvin Gaye right down to his Denign jacket and rainbow-knit hat. Director Condon’s movies (KINSEY, GODS AND MONSTERS) are glitzy and glossy yet fairly conventional but that approach appears to work here. The songs as overwrought as the are at times are pretty convincing as pastiche homages and a few are catchy too. Not a miscasted role in sight – Danny Glover, Keith Robinson, John Lithgow, and Jaheel White (Urkel!) among others all play the right notes. Far from perfect DREAMGIRLS is pretty Effing good nonetheless.

AL FRANKEN : GOD SPOKE (Dirs. Nick Doob/Chris Hegedus, 2006) Very Loosely structured around the launching of liberal radio Air America, the ongoing spats with Right-wing rabble rousers Bill O’Reilly and Ann Coulter, the 2004 election and on the cuff of a possible senate campaign this ramshackle documentary about comedy writer/performer turned politcal pundit Al Franken misses the mark. Footage and commentary that should serve the tension is chopped into forgetful sound-bites while the perspective that a more thorough career evaluation could provide is severely lacking. There’s some tasty tidbits – Franken doing his Henry Kissinger impression right to Kissinger’s face at a Newsweek party, angry tongue lashings of Michael Medved and Sean Hannity, and Franken’s Republican party convention coverage all amuse but the random clips of SNL sketches and brief visit to the house of his childhood upbringing imply a bigger better story that just isn’t being told.

There is no mention of Franken’s long-time writing and performing partner Tom Davis or references to the shaky nature of Franken’s years at SNL which included a notorious Weekend Update baiting of then NBC president Fred Silverman. Former fellow writer Michael O’Donoghue (1940-1994) would joke that Franken’s sole ambition when getting the SNL gig was the be the first person to say “fart” on TV. Katherine Lanpher, Franken’s co-host on his Air America program jokes in this film that he just wants to say “pecker” on national radio. Looks like the only thing I can gather as insight from GOD SPOKE is that Al Franken cares more about getting a cheap laugh than anything else – I know that’s not the full picture but it’s the only one on display here.

Finally another end-of-post tribute to another recently deceased film friend – TOM POSTON (1921-2007) – Despite appearances in a number of films (mostly crap – COLD TURKEY, THE STORY OF US, THE HAPPY HOOKER * for Christ’s sake!) it’s his TV work that’ll be his legacy. From The Steve Allen Show to What’s My Line then onto Get Smart, Alice, CHiPS, Mork & Mindy, The Love Boat, Murphy Brown, The Simpsons, That 70’s Show and just about every other show that ever existed, Poston was a solid steady presence in television from the beginning of that cathode-ray tube forum. His role as handyman George Utley in one of my all-time favorite shows Newhart gets to me the most. Check out this scene from one of the classic episodes – “A Midseason’s Night Dream.” It’s how I want to remember the man. * I ain’t linking to any of those movies! You’re on your own.

More later…

A Slew Of Reviews…

“I don’t really care for movies; they make everything seem so close up. “
– Macon Leary THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST (Dir. Lawrence Kasdan, 1988)

Well Summer is officially here and it looks like its going to be an especially lame movie season – I mean except for SNAKES ON A PLANE, right? Don’t get me wrong – I’m gonna give SUPERMAN RETURNS a chance and I’m pysched like crazy about A SCANNER DARKLY but otherwise we’re wading in crap like MIAMI VICE, pointless sequels like FAST AND THE FURIOUS : TOYKO DRIFT and CLERKS II (why is Kevin Smith going back to that particular well now?!!?) – I mean last summer I thought we all learned something from fiascos like THE DUKES OF HAZZARD and BEWITCHED. Aren’t you glad I linked all those titles to their IMDB webpage in case you didn’t know what movie I was talking about?

My little local hometown theater the Varsity and its sister theater the Chelsea now has a webpage :

http://www.chelseavarsity.com/

I work there part time mainly for the free movies and of course am happiest when we have movies playing that I like. Now playing at the Varsity are 2 movies I like :

AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH (Dir. Davis Guggenheim) Al Gore’s well honed powerpoint global warming lecture spiffed up a bit with dazzling graphics and swift editing has amazingly become a sure-fire summer hit and a definite must see on the big screen. It is compelling and completely convincing material even living up to the movie poster’s tag-line “by far the most terrifying film you will ever see”. Funnily enough on the same poster the movie’s rating PG-13 is given for “mild thematic elements”. The only thing that sucks about this movie is the God awful Melissa Etheridge song that plays over the end credits.

A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION (Dir. Robert Altman) Garrison Keillor’s long running old timey radio show is embroidered with Altman (MASH, THE LONG GOODBYE, SHORT CUTS , THE PLAYER, GOSFORD PARK, countless other masterpieces) trademarks – an always moving camera even in simple close-up shots and everybody talking at once – that’s right overlapping dialogue city! Good performances by the likes of Kevin Kline, Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin, Virginia Madsen, John C. Reilly, Woody Harrelson, Tommy Lee Jones, Maya Rudolph, etc. all make up for the blank spot on the screen that is Lindsay Lohan’s appearance. I never listened to the Lake Wobegon deal on the radio and was very cynical going in but this somehow worked for me.

Now some DVDS I’ve seen lately :

THE NEW WORLD (Dir. Terrence Mallick) Mallick is a film director legend despite having only made like 4 or 5 pictures in like 40 years. This re-telling (or more accurately re-imagining) of the Pocahontas/John Smith romance circa 1607 is beautifully shot. Mallick’s camera appears to be in love with Q’Orianka Kilcher (never named outloud in the movie as Pocahontas) whose sunbathed dances make for some mighty fine visuals. As for the men in her life – Colin Ferell does his arrogant angst thing while Christian Bale puts in a nice accepting guy appeal in the third act. Looking on the message boards on the IMDb I’m aware that many many people hate this film – comments like “This film was also terribly edited, bizarrely cast, and just generally pathetic. People say they like this film in a simple attempt to feel elite.” Man! I think it is worthwhile to see. The fight scene when the Powhatan attack Jamestown has a greater realism and artfullness to it than similiar multi-party fight scenes in Scorsese’s GANGS OF NEW YORK and Oliver Stone’s Colin Ferell atrocity ALEXANDER. And it doesn’t make me feel elite to say so.

TRANSAMERICA (Dir. Duncan Tucker) A transexual road comedy! Move over Crosby and Hope! Sorry – this is earnest acted and presented just a bit too conventional for my tastes. Felicity Huffman moves respectedly away from TV work (Desperate Housewives, Frasier, West Wing, etc.) to give a finely tuned portrayal of a pre-operative transsexual who finds out he/she fathered a son (Kevin Zegers). If only this wasn’t drenched in will-they-bond /won’t-they road movie cliches – one can see the ending coming less than a third in.

“When God gives you AIDS – and God does give you AIDS, by the way – make lemonAIDS.”
– Sarah Silverman

SARAH SILVERMAN : JESUS IS MAGIC (Dir. Liam Lynch) After toiling on the sidelines the last decade (appearances on Seinfeld, SNL, Mr. Show, and notably unfunny unrepresentive movie appearances like SCHOOL OF ROCK) Sarah Silverman makes good on stealing the ARISTOCRATS from everyone in comedy to be the star attraction in this part stand-up / part musical sketch film. I really wished they stayed with the straight-on stand up performance. The other bits – unfortunately including a cringing Bob Odenkirk as manager bit – don’t work and disrupt and distract from the many funny lines like :

“The best time to have a baby is when you’re a black teenager.”

and

“I love you more than my after show monster bong hit”

That’s right – shes far from PC. Reminds me of Letterman years ago repeatedly saying “know my theory on Madonna? She loves to shock.” Silverman’s take on done-to-death stereotypes is almost too obvious at times – I mean singing a plucky “you’re gonna die soon” song to a room full of old people, come on! – but still very funny.

More later…