Everything old is new again
Movies seen spring 2007.
Originally written: October 2007
Live Free or Die Hard /Die Hard 4.0
The Bourne Ultimatum
The Simpsons Movie
Hairspray
Bonneville
All That Jazz
And still the sequels, remakes, re-imaginings and other movies lacking any real imagination continue to dominate the cineplex. The only cause of hope is that it is during the northern winter that most 'serious' movies, those with award pretensions, start getting release. It also appears that, in the coming months, we'll be inundated with more new fantasies than you can shake a vorpal sword at. I suppose we have the success of The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter (the first five Potters have now earned more, in terms of world-wide box office gross than the 22 official Bond films and the six Star Wars movies) to thank for this. I hope the fantasy boom does not replicate, in terms of direness, the plethora of Star War clones in the late 1970s and through the 1980s. Stardust has already opened - to surprisingly good reviews - and a second Narnia movie is promised in 2008. I've also seen ads for a version of Beowulf, directed by Robert Zemeckis, from a screenplay partly written by Neil Gaiman, and this is one that seems likely to succeed, but may well suck. Also noted as coming soon: Seeker - The Dark is Rising, based on the Susan Cooper novel, looks like it could be the start of a series of quest fantasy movies; Enchanted, which could be fun, despite being made by Disney; and Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, written and directed by Zach Helm, the author of Stranger than Fiction. Meanwhile, back at the cineplex, the series continue, together with a couple of interesting re-imaginings (ie new versions of old ideas).
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Not in New Hampshire
Unlike the first two Die Hard movies, John McClane's fourth adventure does not take place at Christmas nor within a confined space (office tower/airport). Nor is he single-handedly trying to save his missus from the super-baddie. In these respects Live Free or Die Hard (or Die Hard 4.0, as they more prosaically named it here) is very much like a sequel to Die Hard: with a Vengance, as are the facts that McClane is in and around New York, and on the road, and he is burdened with a partner. Unlike the third instalment, and with some echoes of the first two, there is a McClane family member in harm's way. Like the majority of his predecessors (particularly the Gruber brothers), the fourth uber-villain, Gabriel (Timothy Olyphant), is after money, and lots of it. But his is a cyber-crime, with threats of a computer armageddon underlying it. For various plot reasons, McClane hooks up with Matt Farrell (Justin Long), a geek who has unwittingly contributed code to Gabriel's organisation and is now listed for demolition. And, since they cannot get the FBI to take seriously the contribution they might make, they set out on their own to stop Gabriel. There are a series of set-piece confrontations, from a battle in Matt's apartment, through a fight with an antithetical helicopter, and a series of battle in a power station, where Gabriels's henchwoman (Maggie Q) is the victim of some McClane road rage, a chase between a B-double and a fighter jet along an elevated highway, to the inevitable conclusion, as our heroes save the day. Bruce Willis is an older, but wiser, McClane, but still able to quip and run. This character has always had the touch of cartoon hero about him: no amount of punishment ever seems to harm him in any permanent way, and he keeps bouncing back for more. But Willis continues to make him a credible character, driven by his demons to see the job through. There is nothing in this movie that strains the credulity more than there was in previous episodes. And the humor is still a major part of the character. Long, who made his name as a fanboy in Galaxy Quest and is now identified as the face of the Mac ads, starts off a little whiny but settles down after a while and, in fact, contributes more through his character's knowledge to the movie than Samuel Jackson did in Die Hard: with a Vengance. Olyphant, who has been essaying Seth Bullock in Deadwood for the last three years, is good enough - not in the Alan Rickman or Jeremy Irons league when it comes to scenery eating but he fits the needs of the movie. This is fairly brainless entertainment, but it is at least entertaining and diverting. It says little or nothing about the state of the world or about us as human beings, but it isn't meant to. It is a diversion, as all of the Die Hard series has been, and its provides more than a few laughs to interleave amongst the blood, gore, guts and other leavings of the action scenes. Not all series are moribund by the third (or, indeed, fourth) episode.
Bourne to be wild
Another example that the rule of three (discussed last ish) is not necessarily good for all occasions and that Hollywood (via a British director if required) is still capable of making excellent action/thriller films can be seen in the third Jason Bourne film, The Bourne Ultimatum. In this series, Matt Damon has been playing Robert Ludlum's amnesiac assassin, the thinking person's killing machine. In the first film, he started to learn something of himself and his identity as he confronted Chris Cooper's CIA mastermind. In the second Brian Cox became his agency nemesis, Bourne's girl was killed, and more of his memory returned. In the current thriller, the successor program to the one that created Bourne is now headed by David Strathairn, who seems as inimical to Bourne as those that have actually met him. Someone is trying to kill Bourne and he's not happy about it, so he skips over several continents to express his displeasure, barely avoiding death at each turn and striking back at his tormentors. Helping him, this time, is Nicky (Julia Stiles) who was featured in a small role in each of the earlier movies, but who has some history with Bourne, if only he could remember it. In the neutral corner again is Joan Allen, one of the better actresses working in contemporary films, who is the conscience of the Company, as she was in The Bourne Supremacy. Also hanging about are Scott Glenn (the CIA chief) and Albert Finney (the mad scientist who started it all). One of the joys of the film is the class of the cast. Director PaulGreengrass, who also did the first sequel, is a fan of the moving camera, a fetish he employs sometimes to the detriment of the stomachs of the viewer. In some of his car chases, especially, there is a sense of vertigo that can be overwhelming. He also uses a chase scene in the suk of Tangier that is reminiscent of the free running sequence in Casino Royale, a piece of unoriginality for which we will forgive him, because the scene is so well choreographed, that is just as disturbing. In fact, Bourne spends most of the film on the run, in one way or another, until the climactic confrontation with the evil old doctor. Here the film grinds to a halt while everyone talks far too much. Fortunately, there is one more chase to come, to leave the film and the series on a relatively high note. I've enjoyed all the Bourne movies, in part because Damon has been so convincing in the lead. Like the Die Hard movies, they require a large dose of willing suspension of disbelief and, like those movies, they are great fun, provided you can stand the level of violence inherent in the system. Recommended.
Homer saves the day
Everyone should be aware that I am a fan of The Simpsons. Like most intelligent adults I have been enjoying the particular brand of humor and satire inherent in the show since 1989. I regard it as the best television series ever. With lots of hits and very few misses, the series has skewered American pretensions, particularly in politics and the entertainment industry like no other. It has always used the discipline of the half-hour format to ensure that, by and large, the stories are tight and targeted. So the dangers inherent in the making of a film using the characters from the series were obvious, and the pitfalls enormous. Apparently the script for The Simpsons Movie (not really a number in a series, but a re-imagining of the television format) went through about 100 rewrites over a five-year period before the producers were happy to green light it. The result is as good as it could be and better than you'd expect. The storyline fits the greater length and width of a feature movie: Homer and family are forced to leave Springfield and the town is isolated by an evil Environmental Protection Agency. This sets up a series of heroic responses from Marge, from Bart and from Homer. Most of the major characters, particularly the family, are featured, and many, many more of the town's background characters get their moment in the spotlight, although for some it is very fleeting. Very few television series survive the expansion into feature format. The fact that the movie has been made by those who continue to make the series and who have an investment in the maintenance of the characters means that there is genuine care given to the script. The result is funny, with more good gags than you'll find in most comparable comedies, satirical and true to the history of the created universe. The Simpsons never age and The Simpsons never fails to satisfy. Recommended.
Cyclone Tracy hits Baltimore
Hairspray is another re-imagining: an original film by enfant terrible John Waters, made on the smell of an oily rag ($2 million), was turned into a Broadway musical and that musical has been made into an expensive musical pic ($75 million cost) with an all-star cast. The story remains the same, and very slight: Baltimore in the early 1960s sees a teenage rock show with blonde-haired blue-eyed kids dominating the dances chorus, except once a month on "Negro Day". Tracy Turnblad is short and stout but can dance, and tries out for a vacancy on the show and, despite the producer's reluctance, gets the gig. Her energy and verve start to shake up the show and she makes a number of enemies, particularly Velma von Tussle (the producer) and her daughter. At the same time she makes friends with many of her black classmates, and with Motormouth Maybelle, the hostess on Negro Day. The simplistic message of the movie is that the fight for acceptance by the fatties is the same fight as the fight for equality by the Negroes of the US south. And the ending aims to resolve both those conflicts, while punishing the von Tussles. But this film, like its predecessor, does not succeed on the basis of its story line. What is great here is the fun exhibited by the singing and dancing. From Tracy's opening, "Good Morning Baltimore", Marc Shaiman's infectious song score carries you along. So does Nikki Blonsky, who has been cast as Tracy. She is very good indeed, both in voice and movement. And she is abetted by a strong supporting cast that includes John Travolta as her mother (the part has traditionally been played by a man since Divine first essayed it), Micheel Pfeiffer (Velma), Queen Latifah (Maybelle), Amanda Bynes, James Marsden (Cyclops can sing!!) and Alison Janney. Hairspray gives hope that the traditions of the movie musical are not yet dead. Revived somewhat by Moulin Rouge and Chicago, the form has not been stopped by some lesser recent adaptations. It is a joyous genre, best seen in movies with scant story but strong characters and good songs. This movie meets those criteria.
On the Road. Again?
"Last Orders meets Thelma and Louise": that was Cath's high concept description of Bonneville, a film we saw in preview recently. An invited audience, plucked from attenders at another cinema, were invited to the preview and asked to complete a questionnaire. An indication that the marketers can't quite work out how to sell the film. The main story line concerns Arvilla, Carol and Margene, three 50-something women, driving from Idaho to California to take the ashes of Arvilla late husband to his family's burial place. For most of the time, this is a fairly straight-forward dramedy road movie, with a few good laughs, particularly from Kathy Bates (Margene), and some strong emotions. The trouble is that the movie is neither milk nor meat, and it is not quite sure which it wants to be. Moments of strong drama are undone by ill-placed comedy and the drama occasionally goes over the top. The three leads, Jessica Lane, Kathy Bates and Joan Allen, are all very good but the film, written and directed by first timers, is not good enough for them. It might not get cinema release. Made in 2006, it has yet to be released in the US and may still go straight to DVD. If it does get released, I wonder whether it can find an audience.
From our DVD collection - reviews of good and great movies not previously reviewed
The world is divided into two sorts of people: those who love All That Jazz and those that failed properly to understand it. The film is Bob Fosse semi-autobiographical masterpiece in which Joe Gideon (Roy Scheider, in his one truly great performance in films) is the analog of the auteur. He is a director simultaneous cutting a film (clearly based on Lenny) and staging a new Broadway musical (with obvious references to Chicago), while balancing a love-life (ex-wife, girlfriend and a girl from his next show) and fatherhood. Not to mention cigarettes, drugs and alcohol. All of this leads to a coronary, which is in fact what happened to Fosse around the time that he was juggling stage and film commitments. Fosse himself survived for a further ten or so years before his heart failed, but Gideon is even more self-destructive than his creator. In fact, through the imaginary character of Angelique (Jessica Lange in her beautiful youth), we can see that Gideon is almost in love with the idea of an early death. The film is very much a drama, but is littered with songs, so that it is not unlike a musical. The finale is played out purely as a fantasy musical as Gideon moves between life and death. Here the use of the falsely sincere television host, O'Connor Flood (Ben Vereen), as the host of Gideon's "farewell performance", and the appearance in the dream-sequence of his wife (Leland Palmer, who manages to suggest Gwen Verdon without imitating her), lover (Anne Reinking, his dance protegee who would successfully restage Chicago in the late 1990s) and daughter (Erzsebet Foldi) are beautifully handled. I never got to see any of Fosse's Broadway plays, but I was able to follow his film career from chorus dancer (Kiss Me Kate, among others) to choreographer (Pyjama Game, Damn Yankees etc) and finally director (Sweet Charity, Cabaret, Lenny etc). Fosse's early death robbed us of any number of great films - his version of Chicago would have been worth going miles to see. But All That Jazz is his most entertaining: a stunningly original and insightful movie, laced with genuine emotions, and some of the best dancing numbers ever stages on film ("Take off With Us" and the finale come to mind). This is one of the least recognised great movies of the last thirty years. See it if you can.
[Note: Information about the movies mentioned, including cast and crew lists and all sorts of trivia, is available at the Internet Movie Database (IMDb).]