LISTEN TO....
SONGS OF FAITH AND DEVOTION - DEPECHE MODE
Songs of Faith and Devotion is the 1993 release of Depeche Mode, "the most popular electronic act in the world". I've had the album for years but just recently rediscovered it and decided it has to be one of the best albums ever recorded. One has to marvel at the simplicity with which the words are strung together. They lyrics are at times like a speech, at others like a prayer, and always an eloquent expression of a complex emotion. Lyrically, SOFAD is the logical extension of Depeche Mode's previous work. It picks up where they left off with 1984's "People are People". Musically, the album is haunting, almost troublingly so at times. I like to listen to it in the shower (incidently my most creative time) and sing along. I've heard Depeche Mode called "gothic" and I disagree. *I would usually reserve that term for people like Marilyn Manson and Trent Reznor (although at the insistence of a certain adamant "music enthusiast" i must withdraw that comment, as clearly, it was a gross miscalculation on my part: NIN - industrial, Manson - something else entirely)*. Usually it's not my kind of music at all, but SOFAD draws me in somehow.
WATCH....(film)
REALITY BITES
A classic for the Generation X crowd (or was that Generation Y, <:( i get so confused, and who the hell cares anyway), I've seen this particular film upwards of half a dozen times and it never ceases to amaze me. Although it is not on my top films list (hmm, I don't really know why it's not) I consider it a very valuable piece of my video collection. Is it just me or were the characters written with the specific purpose of providing over-worked, under-paid, high-hoping, jaded, disillusioned young people with a direct mirror of their existence? A character they could identify with, relate to, see parts of themselves in? I don't know a single girl who isn't drawn to Troy's brooding sarchastic charm. I've even recently been made aware of a certain male population with a great appreciation for Ethan Hawke as well. Steve Zahn who went on to star in two of my favourites "That Thing You Do!" and "Out of Sight", is virtually unrecognizable as Sammy, a character that the plot definately does not make enough use of. (i didn't even realize it was him until very recently and i was glad to see that he doesn't always play the same basic character a la Juliette Lewis). Jeanene Garafalo is at her absolute comic best in this film. The scene in which Zahn and Garafalo pre-enact Sammy's coming-out speech to his mother is one the film's best. Ben Stiller plays a fabulous bumbling niceguy with the best of intentions to perfection. His portrayal give us a convenient emotional out, although we feel sorry for him cuz he really is such a sweet guy, he's also kind of a dork so when the inevitable connection is made between Lelainah and Troy we don't dwell on his feelings. Reality Bites is a film that can withstand repeated viewing without losing any of its initial charm.
READ....
I HAVE WORDS TO SPEND - ROBERT CORMIER
Robert Cormier is my absolute favourite author of all time. His novels and short stories speak to the inside of me like nothing else ever has. I recently went to the library and borrowed all the books I could find with his name on them. In my wild search, I came across "I Have Words To Spend", a collection of editorials that read like short stories. The pieces were published in various small town newspapers where Cormier was the editor. Many of them were written under a pseudonym allowing Cormier to write of his life, his family, and friends without having to worry about offending anyone. The book was edited by Cormier's wife. It makes me wanna write....
ANTICIPATE....(based on preview and/or hype)
I saw Notting Hill the day it was released. I went to the theatre by myself, so that I didn't have to worry about anyone seeing me cry (not that I do much of that worrying stuff anyway). What can be better than Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant (both of whom, incidently, I am completely in love with) in a romantic comedy set in England. The story goes like this: a world-famous, paparazzi-harassed actress (Roberts) meets a simple bookstore owner from Notting Hill (Grant) and quickly falls for him. The expected pandamonium ensues as they attempt to have a relationship around her fame. ("Probably best not to tell anyone about this." "I'll tell myself sometimes, but don't worry, I won't believe it".) It turned out to be everything I expected and wanted it to be. With the added bonus of some of the most interesting supporting characters I've ever seen in a romantic comedy. It made me wanna get married and sit on a park bench for hours with the one I love. ("The fame thing isn't really real, you know. I'm also just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.")
NOT SEE...
ENTRAPMENT
Director: Jon Amiel
Writer: Ron Bass, from a story by Bass and Michael Hertzberg
Producers: Sean Connery, Michael Hertzberg, Rhonda Tollefson
Cast: Sean Connery, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Ving Rhames, Will Patton
Although I adore Sean Connery (as any woman with hormones should), I came away from this movie with one adjective in my mind: dumb.
My aversion to Entrapment was mainly due to the "performance" (if one could call it that) of Catherine Zeta-Jones who was absolutely dreadful as the female lead. She plays an insurance investigator (is there actually such a thing?) named Gin Baker (and what's up with that name?) who convinces her boss that she would be the ideal person to bring in legendary thief, Robert MacDougal (Connery). I had really truly hoped that Catherine Zeta-Jones had at least a tiny bit of acting ability to go along with her very impressive posterior. Sadly, it was not to be.
Connery is in his element here. After all, he is arguably the one that set the standard for this and similar action hero types. Even in his "mature" years, Connery can still pull off the charming hero with sophistication and virility. His particular brand of masculinity is one that I don't think I'll ever tire of.
Which is exactly the reason that the carefully calculated love affair between Connery and Zeta-Jones makes my stomach turn. Set aside for a moment if you will, the obvious and extreme age difference, and consider whether someone as cultured and refined as Robert MacDougal could even conceive the notion of being with a woman so utterly naive and ridiculous.
It is difficult to empathize with characters who place little value on human relationships (they like being alone) and spend their lives trying to make a fast buck (or 8 billion of them). As far as a character arch goes, these people don't do much growing or changing. At the end, they're pretty much where they started only with probably a little more sex.
The supporting cast is frustratingly bland. An excruciatingly annoying Will Patton murders an attempted accent (origin unsure) as Baker's boss. Even the brilliant and fabulous Ving Rhames, who usually brings vibrancy and life to any role he takes on, can't seem to overcome his banal character.
In the reverse mentality of those who criticize "art films" for their lack of plot, Entrapment gives us too much plot. There are only so many twists that one story can handle and if the denouement isn't as strong as the rising action, it is a pointless exercise indeed.
If you are a fan of either Sean Connery, dumb action flicks, or Catherine Zeta-Jones' (often) naked body, then it might be worth the matinee price.
16/6/99
CONSIDER CAREFULLY...
MAN ON THE MOON
During a recent sleepover, a friend of mine took me to see "Man on the Moon" which he had already seen and loved. I was eager to love it as well. The previews had been promising and I've developed a certain fondness for all things Jim Carrey. However, I walked out of the movie ultimately unsatisfied.
It just wasn't funny. Of course, maybe I'm one of those many people who just don't understand the subtle genius of Andy Kaufman. If anyone does understand it, I'd really appreciate having it explained to me.
Kaufman's existence, as far as I can tell, was characterized by a constant need to push the limits of tolerance. In much the same way as Marilyn Manson uses shock value to get his "message" across, so to did Andy Kaufman use his influence to push people to the boundries of their regular thinking patterns, daring them to feel something, anything, as long as it was from the gut. (Yes, I am aware that at least one person who reads this review, either pro-Kaufman or pro-Manson, is going to have my head for that statement.)
I'm not going to get too much into the plot of the movie or the life of Andy Kaufman, because there are excellent websites that can do that much better than I can.
There are two things I want to comment on and then I'll have said my piece:
the actors I was impressed with Jim Carrey's ability to lose himself in the role of Andy Kaufman. So convincing was he, that at times you forgot you were watching a major Hollywood actor and believed that this was his life, his ideas and his dreams. The supporting cast, including Danny DeVito and Courtney Love, held the rest of the story up while allowing Carrey to do his thing. Some of the characters sort of got lost along the way, but DeVito as George Shapiro and Paul Giamatti as Kaufman's right hand man, Bob Zmuda, in particular, maintained likable and believable characters throughout.
pacing I thought the pacing of the film was odd in its tendancy to jump from one scene to the next with no real connection. Maybe I was just tired or restless, but I found the movie to be quite sloppy. Perhaps if I knew a little more about Kaufman before I watched the film, it would've made more sense to me. As it was, I only ever knew Andy Kaufman as Ladka on Taxi, apparently his most-despised role, and wasn't aware of anything else he'd done in his career. I left the theatre with many unanswered questions. Thank goodness for the internet which cleared up many of those questions. Visit the websites linked above for more information on Kaufman or Man in the Moon.
20/2/00
DEFINITELY WATCH...
Heath Ledger, Australian sex god and idol of the Stefanson female's cult worship, plays a guy named Jimmy who does a job for a guy called Pando (played by Bryan Brown) and ends up losing 10 grand of Pando's money. The rest of the plot is basically Jimmy running from Pando and trying to get the money back. It doesn't sound very cool from that description, but the secondary characters are all very interestingly connected and that's where the story really comes in. There are some moments of high hilarity and some really disturbingly emotional scenes as well. Of course, the highlight of the movie for me (and all of the girls in the Stefanson family) was the frequency of shirtless Heath shots. *L* But even with Heath aside, the movie is well made and worth seeing. There is a wacky bit with Jimmy's dead brother that borders on ridiculous, but other than that, it's a quality film. It also won Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay at the Australian Academy Awards, if that means anything to you. (It should.) See this movie.
18/7/00
