War Horse
seen @ UA Kaufman Astoria Cinemas, Astoria, Queens, NY
1.3.12
I remember when my sister went through her horse phase. She had this one horse doll that she always kept on her shelf. It wasn't articulated; it was just a model of a brown and white horse. I don't recall if its tail was hair or not. Sometimes I'd play with it when she wasn't around. I think she had a horse calendar and maybe even a horse poster at one time too. I definitely remember going to see The Black Stallion with her and my mother when it came out. It was playing at the other RKO theater on Main Street in Flushing - not the Keith's on Northern Boulevard, but the other one, whose name I can't recall. Point is, my sister loved horses.
Myself, I remember going to the petting zoo in Flushing Meadow Park as a kid with my mother and seeing horses for the first time there. I think I may have even gotten to ride a pony. I would've been about six, maybe seven. The summer camp in Massachusetts I worked at had horses, which some of the kids would ride. There was this one camper - a 13-year-old girl named Claire; I'll never forget her - who allegedly once inquired as to whether or not the fenced-off area that the horses roamed in were only "psychological boundaries." I say allegedly because I got this quote second-hand, but it's exactly the kind of thing she would say. One day I'll have to tell you about her.
I never had pets growing up, but I've seen first-hand how devoted people can get with them. Bibi and Eric, for instance, have a sign near the front door of their house that says something like, "In case of fire, please rescue our cats." I've known other friends whose attachment to their pet dogs and cats is unshakeable. So the relationship between Albert, the main character of War Horse, and the eponymous horse Joey, is certainly nothing unusual on the face of it.
The original source of both this film and the recent stage play of the same name is a young adult novel, and War Horse the film does feel like the kind of story written for that audience, even if it hasn't been marketed as such. An animal's loyalty to its beloved master, tested through time and circumstance, hits many of the same notes as anything out of Benji or Lassie, only on a much bigger scale in this case.
Some people who have fully embraced this film don't like the fact that its unabashed emotionalism and sentimentality has been a turn-off for others. I admit, I was hesitant to see it for this reason, especially since director Steven Spielberg is a Grade-A master at it. Now that I've seen the film, I find that my initial suspicions were more or less correct: the melodramatic aspects of War Horse are given the hard-sell like I couldn't believe. Especially that ending!
So is this a bad thing? Well, I can certainly be a sucker for sentimental movies just like anybody else, and I got caught up with this story too. But yeah, in the end I'm afraid the hard-sell was a bit much for me in this particular case. Sometimes I'm willing to accept it, other times not, and this one was the latter. Still, Spielberg seems more guilty of this tactic than other filmmakers, and I suppose I was hoping for something different here.
Also, I'm willing to accept that I may be too much of a cynical bastard to take War Horse to heart. That's entirely possible. The manner in which Albert and Joey are eventually reunited (not a spoiler; this is a Spielberg film after all) literally had me going "Oh my god" as I saw it happen, as in "Oh my god is this really how it's gonna happen?" And again, I've been willing to go along with a film's melodrama on occasion, but this wasn't one. Spielberg does the emotional hard-sell better than anyone else, and it does not make his films inherently bad, but after all these years, it no longer comes as much of a surprise.
I thought I might have to get violent on somebody in the audience who talked on and off throughout the movie - a little louder than I would've liked, too. I don't think it was an older person; the old couple at the opposite end of my row did mutter intermittently as well, but not as loud as this other guy. Fortunately, the movie itself was generally louder, what with all the battle scenes. Also, the ticket clerk accidentally gave me a ticket for Tintin instead of War Horse. It wasn't a problem with the usher, though now I guess this means I'll have two Tintin tickets (after I see it, of course). Maybe I should've snuck into a Tintin screening afterwards, but I was really hungry and wanted to eat.
A few weeks ago, I wrote a post that was kind of a last-minute thing, and certainly not one I intended to be taken seriously: imagining who would play me in the pretend movie based on my life story. Turned out that people liked it, for which I'm grateful of course, but also, the idea was floated that it would make a good subject for a blogathon.
Well, what can I say except that I'm game if you are!
So welcome to the Movie of My Life Blogathon! As in the original post, the main objective is to imagine who could play you in a theoretical movie about your life, but I'm gonna expand further on it. You can approach this in one of two ways: you can do what I did, and simply make a list of actors who conceivably could capture your essential nature on screen and why. One commenter suggested the I'm Not There route - going totally abstract with your casting. If you think you can do that, fine, but you'll definitely have to explain your choices!
Your second option is casting your family and/or friends in addition to yourself, but if you do that, here's the caveat: I want you to take a specific event from a specific period in your life - high school prom, wedding day, moving to a new neighborhood, etc. - and cast accordingly. So if you decide to pick a period from when you were, say, ten years old, or sixteen, you'll have to pick an age-appropriate actor.
Be creative. Maybe you're not the star of this movie. Maybe this is set in your future (if you think you can project that far ahead into your life). Maybe you can cast it with actors from the 50s. Whatever you like is fine as long as you keep it grounded in the real world; no sci-fi or fantasy elements.
Post it on your blog and send the link to me at ratzo318 (at) yahoo (dot) com, and on Friday, February 3, I'll put up all the submissions. Your banner is up above.
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Related:
My Hometown Blogathon
Trouble in Paradise (1932)
seen online via YouTube
1.1.12
One of the most rewarding things about watching old movies for this blog is that sooner or later, after watching enough movies, I start to recognize certain actors that I've seen over and over and I make connections. For example: I wasn't too familiar with Miriam Hopkins. Then I saw her in Design For Living a couple of weeks ago, and Trouble in Paradise last night. I liked her in both, but as I watched her last night, I realized I'd seen her in something else too, and I struggled for a few minutes trying to figure it out. Then I went to IMDB and got the answer: she was Olivia de Havilland's aunt in The Heiress, a role from later in her career. Now this is one of my favorite movies ever. I've seen it so many times, but it's like I can appreciate it in a different way now that I know who she is.
So I'm continuing to check out the films of Ernst Lubitsch, obviously, and I liked Trouble a lot. I went into it without reading about it in advance. I didn't even know who was in it. It's about a pair of high-class thieves who try to run a game on a rich businesswoman. It's short - only 83 minutes - and yet it feels like there's a lot going on in it.
I think I'm beginning to understand this "Lubitsch touch" that people always talk about. He seemed to love setting his stories in Europe, for one thing, and made a point to use the native language wherever possible. Design begins with the main characters speaking French, and Trouble has Italian-speaking characters. Hopkins gets to not only speak French in the former, but Spanish and a little German in the latter.
There's always more than a little bit of glamor and sex appeal in his films. It's hard to explain why, but there's something about this movie in particular that feels palpably sexier than rom-coms made today. I think the glamor element may be a big reason why. Everybody dresses fancy, the ladies look fabulous, they run around European cities (or at least sets made up like those cities) and the situations they find themselves in, while important to them, never seem like a matter of life and death. Lubitsch makes it all seem... not so bad at worst. And it's genuinely funny.
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
seen @ Main Street Cinemas, Kew Gardens Hills, Queens, NY
12.29.11
SPOILERS
I've been waiting all damn year to get this off my chest and now I'm gonna say it: Tattoos and piercings, in my humble opinion, do not make a hot chick look hotter. I cannot begin to tell you how much it depresses me whenever I see some chick on the street who already looks good to begin with (and my definition of a good-looking chick is fairly broad), and yet she still feels the need to stick small pieces of metal through her lip or her brow or - gah! - her tongue, or cover her chest and arms with tats. It's like putting neon lights on the Mona Lisa because you think it looks cool.
There's a comic strip I read where the main characters start a tattoo and piercing business in order to make money off of gullible teenagers with more money than sense. They pierce them with crap like wire hangers and barbed wire and hang irons from their nipples and tattoo insults on them, but to their shock, the kids love it all, because they think it makes them look hipper and more "alternative" than ever. Sometimes that's how I see some of these people who do these things to their bodies - like they're suckers who'll follow any trend in the name of individuality. But how can they be "individual" and "alternative" if everyone's doing it?
And I don't find it sexy. One or two tattoos, maybe. A whole bunch, no. Plus, what will these chicks look like when they're 60 and have sagging boobs, cellulite and liver spots on top of those tattoos? But then, one wonders if that's even a consideration.
Still, I don't wanna sound like I'm blanket-condemning tattoos and piercings. If that's your thing and you wanna do that to your body, by all means, have at it. Go nuts. Just don't think it's gonna automatically make you look any hotter.
Of course, not everyone gets ink done for looks alone. I knew a girl who had a tat of wings on her back in tribute to a fallen friend, whose name was also inscribed with the wings. I can accept something like that. Though some people, of course, take that sort of thing too far as well. I read a story a few years ago about a father who had tattooed on his back a reproduction of a drawing his eight-year-old daughter made. (There's actually much more to that particular story, but I'll save it for another time.)
I missed about the first ten minutes or so of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo because of an unusual incident that happened to me on my way to the theater. I was coming from a different direction than last time (this was only my second time at the Main Street), through a neighborhood I'm unfamiliar with, and as a result, I got lost. I asked a bus driver for directions and he set me back on the right path, but as I was walking down a residential street, I saw an old lady standing out the door to her house with an arm outstretched in my general direction. I couldn't tell for sure, but it sounded like she was saying something. Then I realized she was calling for help!
I backed up and approached her front door. I was the only one in the vicinity. She looked to be at least in her 70s, maybe even her 80s. She said her husband had dementia and needed help getting from the bathroom back to the bedroom. I asked if he needed a doctor, ready to dial 911. She said he didn't. Tentatively I walked into their place and she led me to the bathroom.
The old dude, probably around the same age as his wife, was sitting on the can in his boxers and a button-down shirt. (I was quite grateful there was nothing that needed cleaning up, if you know what I mean.) There was a metal cane, the kind with four prongs at the base, next to him. He seemed reluctant to use it to help him get up, or indeed, to get up at all. He seemed like his mind might've been out to lunch at the moment.
I slowly helped him up and eased him into the bedroom, little by little, though I had to keep urging him to grab his cane and use it to lean on, even as I held him up on one side. Eventually he made it. The wife thanked me as the phone rang, and that's when I chose to make a discreet exit, having helped solve the immediate problem and not willing to wait until she got off the phone to find out if she needed anything else. I couldn't help but wonder why they didn't have any neighbors they could rely on, or a nurse or home attendant, but then I suppose there could be a myriad of reasons, and thinking about it further just depressed me, so I moved on.
Anyway, by the time I made it to the theater, I considered waiting for the next show, but I thought I'd only miss the trailers. Well, I did miss the trailers - and the opening credits, and a bit of the beginning of the story, but I was able to catch up easily enough. And I could hardly complain about it, now could I?
So. That book... or should I say those books. I never read them, nor did I see the original Swedish film version. I might've mentioned here before how suspect I tend to get towards mega-popular things in pop culture - my lizard brain automatically thinks if it's popular, it must suck. That's why I never got into Harry Potter at its peak. Sometimes, of course, this belief is true, but not always.
I can't recall ever seeing a character quite like Lisbeth in the movies before. I knew she was gonna get raped in the story (some spoilers are impossible to avoid). It didn't surprise me that she'd take her revenge; I fully anticipated and applauded that. What I didn't expect was how quickly she'd be willing and able to have sex with a man (or a woman) again. Now, I'm not about to pretend I have any clue what rape is like for a woman, but the way the film presents Lisbeth, it seemed almost as if she didn't suffer any lingering psychological scars from the incident. Basically, she was raped, she suffered physically, she got her revenge (in a totally AWESOME fashion, I might add), and she moved on like it ain't no thing. I can't believe she could put it behind her so quickly and easily...
...but then again, Lisbeth is hella tough. Maybe it's one of those things you need to accept in the name of entertainment, like the hero shrugging off bullet wounds that would put anyone else outta commission. I did like the movie overall, so maybe I should forget about it. I dunno.
I'll say this much, though: I think I understand why many of the promotional images for Tattoo were as sexually provocative as they were: Lisbeth's sexuality is an integral part of her identity. She decides she wants to have sex with Blomkvist - and doesn't fool around about it, either. And while I initially thought it was just about sex, by the story's end it turns out she genuinely cares about him - another surprise.
That's it for 2011. See you next year!
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
seen @ Kew Gardens Cinemas, Kew Gardens, Queens, NY
12.27.11
Don't ask me to explain Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. I can't - beyond, of course, the very basic premise of looking for the mole within England's MI6. I knew going into this movie that this wasn't gonna have any James Bond-type shenanigans, but I thought there'd at least be a healthy amount of action to it. Haven't we come to expect a little action in spy movies? I dunno. The worst part is that I was really looking forward to this movie.
Like many people, I saw this as Gary Oldman's Oscar bid - and he's excellent in it, though the odds do not look good for him getting that Best Actor nod right now - but I also believed it would be a good movie overall. It's well put together, and all the actors are top-notch (though John Hurt chews more than his share of scenery), but ultimately I was given no reason why I should care about any of it because there's a distinct lack of passion to these proceedings.
The theater was giving out these "cheat sheet" things to everyone seeing Tinker. Maybe you got one too, if you've seen the film - it's this great big fold-out that explains what "The Circus" is, who the characters in Tinker are and how they relate to each other, and what all the different code names mean. By the time I arrived, I had only a minute or two to look it over before the trailers started, so I didn't get a good look at it. I doubt it would've helped much, unless I was able to refer to it during the movie, which of course I couldn't (unless I had a pocket flashlight or something).
Maybe it was because of the holiday season, but there was a fairly large crowd for a late-afternoon midweek showing. The room looked half full. I had the misfortune to sit behind an older couple who felt the need to quietly chatter at every little detail, so during the opening credits I moved up an aisle. There was more chatter than usual during the movie, which I took to be people trying to figure out what the hell's going on in this movie, but I could've sworn I heard someone talking on a cell. Not sure. I did hear a cell go off, I know that. By contrast, I also heard a couple of people snoozing. Afterwards, I saw one dude comparing this to the BBC mini-series. He didn't seem to like this version much. In fact, I got the impression that much of the audience didn't care for it.
Not much more to add, except that I spent my time waiting for the movie to start in a cafe across the street which I had never been to before. I like it; I can't believe I've never been in there before, in fact. It's the perfect place to wait for the movie. The Kew, like many theaters these days, play a bunch of commercials before showing the trailers, so rather than sit through them, I wait until the last minute before entering whenever I go there. Getting a good seat usually isn't a problem when I go during the middle of the week, when it's cheaper. Now, though, I have a place I can hang out in first. Their tea is very good, and they even have soft, cushy lounge chairs, although I didn't get to sit in one because it was crowded. Had to settle for a stool. But that's okay.
Other movie blogs may give you a list of their top films of the year - and actually, I'll probably do that too, but unlike a certain film critics group, I'm in no rush to reveal it to the world (in fact, I probably won't get to it for another month at least). This being WSW, however, I have something different to offer. 2011 will be the first calendar year I've completed, and naturally I have quite a number of movie-going memories, whether alone or with friends - the kind of stuff that I do my best to write about here, in this blog that's more of a personal journal than a movie blog. These are the five moments that stand out most. Unlike my usual lists, this is an actual ranking - and it wasn't easy to rank these, either.
5. Singing oldies songs with Andi at a diner before seeing The Illusionist. I think I may have gone to more movies with Andi this year than anyone else. I may not have liked all of them equally, but she's always great company. Sometimes she talks me into some nutty things (remind me to tell you of the time we sneaked into a gated community pretending we were gonna buy a house there), but that's only because she has a great curiosity about the world and isn't shy about it. Why else would she go on a cross-country hike across half of Spain covering hundreds of miles? Or sing Motown songs in a Queens diner with yours truly just because?
4. Going to Vija's party in-between movies during the Urbanworld Film Festival. This being my first film festival, I thought I could see and do it all. Boy was I wrong! Still, Saturday proved to be the busiest of the three-day festival for more than one reason, and I knew that whatever else happened, I couldn't miss one of Vija's parties which, thankfully, was within walking distance of the theater. In the close-to-twenty years I've known her, I've always enjoyed her soirees because I like her friends! Andi is just one of a number of friends I've met this way. Some of them, like Vija and I, are artists; some are co-workers or neighbors of hers; some are old friends of hers that go way back, but I've always gotten along well with them. In fact, at this particular party I met this one woman whom I would've loved to have gotten better acquainted with had I more time; we had a wonderful, but sadly, brief conversation. (I sent her a friend request on Facebook, but I don't think she uses FB much.) Regardless, this was one day I won't forget for a long time.
3. Lining up on the red carpet for the first time at the Urbanworld Film Festival. I could've had a better camera. I might've liked a slightly better spot. And I was a bit star-struck at seeing the likes of Spike Lee and Chris Rock at first. Once I settled into my unlikely role as a paparazzo, however, it was truly exciting. UWFF took place at the same time as the Toronto festival, and I admit I couldn't help making comparisons in my mind (not that I've ever been there), even though Toronto is, of course, one of the biggest film fests in the world. Still, for a film fest novice, one could hardly ask for more: a central location in the heart of New York City, a plethora of film and TV stars to meet and greet, and an all-access pass to see some terrific films. My prior experience as a comics blogger helped prepare me some - going to conventions, interviewing writers and artists - but this was something else. (The glamor of the red carpet itself was dulled for me somewhat when I saw UWFF staffers tape it down to the linoleum floor... but that was a minor detail.)
2. Hearing the Alloy Orchestra perform their score for Metropolis.
In a year in which a silent movie is favored to win Best Picture for the first time in many generations, perhaps it was the best time to have discovered this astounding band, doing what they do best - playing live music for silent movies. If you're ever in NYC in the summertime, make it your business to come to Brooklyn and see a show at the Prospect Park Bandshell. For three bucks you get one helluva bargain.
1. Seeing The Captains on the Intrepid with William Shatner and hundreds of fellow Trekkies. At the risk of sounding like a gushing fanboy, I can't express accurately enough how thrilling it was to be in the presence of The Man Himself for the first time, under these circumstances. The Intrepid, like many NYC landmarks, is not someplace I ever gave much thought to actually visiting one day - as impressive as it is, it's still a tourist trap, and an expensive one at that. So this was momentous on three different levels - the movie itself (which was interesting, but more for Trekkies than anyone else, I think), having the Shat there to introduce it, and being on board the Intrepid for the first time - and all of it for free! I was gonna go with a friend, but he couldn't make it at the last minute, so the only negative about this night was I didn't have anyone to share it with, but I had a great time nonetheless.
As for the blog itself, I have a few ideas for new stuff to add and experiment with in 2012. Once the Oscar season ends, I'm thinking I might cut back to two movies a week (not counting theme weeks). Cranking out three a week isn't always easy, and I'd like to diversify the content a little better. I have Skype now, so you may start hearing me on a podcast or two here and there. I would like to start one of my own also, as soon as I can decide on a film-related topic I'd want to discuss. And I'd like to bring my original art back in some form. Alex has kinda cornered the market on actor sketches, so maybe I'll do something different. I hope you'll stick with me throughout it all.
Design For Living
seen online via YouTube
12.24.11
The first time I heard the word "polyamory" was over a decade ago. I was in love with a girl who used this to describe herself. She made it very clear that even though she already had one boyfriend, it didn't necessarily preclude the possibility of her getting involved with others, but she knew that this was a concept that was blowing my mind. Even today, it's still something that's difficult to wrap my mind around.
Having sex with more than one chick at the same time is perhaps the ultimate male fantasy, and I'm sure plenty of women have wondered what having two guys at once would be like too. This is not like that. Sometimes one person will date others simultaneously, without the other parties' knowledge. This isn't like that either. This is about open relationships - one person going with two (or more) lovers and everybody being aware of it and everybody being cool with it.
A dubious proposition? Maybe. But whether you're talking the free love movement of the 60s, or the wife-swapping key parties of the 70s (or much further back in time than that), it seems like for every streak of morally-induced prohibitions against sexual relations as imposed by some higher authority, there have been alternate groups pushing back against those restrictions.
I dunno... is it simply against our nature to commit to one person, long-term? At what point in human history was it decided that monogamy was how it had to be and anything else was taboo? A major reason why it didn't work out for me and that girl was because in my heart, I didn't really believe it was possible for her to love me and someone else at the same time - and she knew it. Was it wrong of me that I wanted her all to myself? I don't think so. I knew I couldn't change her, and as much as I tried, I couldn't change either. Maybe it would've made things easier, but it was a bridge too far for me to cross. I wish I could have somehow.
So I look at a film like Design For Living - a pre-Code film from 1933, if you can believe that - and while it's entertaining to a degree, I still find myself bemused and bewildered by its approach to what we now call polyamory. One chick falls in love with two dudes and doesn't feel she should have to decide between them. She agrees to forego sex in exchange for helping them pursue their respective careers in the arts, presumably to avoid jealous rages, but that doesn't quite work out the way it's supposed to. Also, Edward Everett Horton.
It's a comedy, so it's kinda mannered and... I dunno, tasteful, though I imagine 1933 audiences saw it much differently. Tom and George fight over Gilda at different points, but I never got the sense that it was all that serious. No one sees Gilda's behavior as truly unusual, and maybe that was intentional, but I think my own experience with being in a similar situation made me not completely buy this story - or perhaps, not this approach to this story. I guess this hits home too hard for me.
