Movie 12: Little Children

Little Children (2006) by Todd Field
starring Kate Winslet & Patrick Wilson

In a nutshell: Had me...then lost me

Quick synopsis: Little Children is a tale of suburban restlessness and paranoia. Winslet & Wilson are both in unhappy marriages and make a connection, meanwhile a convicted pervert (Jackie Earle Haley) moves into the neighborhood much to the chagrin of neighbors.

It has been a while since I have seen American Beauty or any other "suburb movies", and I don't watch Desperate Housewives, so I found Little Children's satire to be fresh and biting during the first half hour, as we get to know the characters. The group of housewives are hilarious and, sadly, all too real. I grew up in the suburbs and it hits close to home. Winslet and Wilson are both solid in their roles as confused thirtysomethings.

I have to give Haley credit for playing his despicable role. It takes courage to make your big comeback to film as a totally creepy pedophile. I am not quite sure I agree with his oscar nomination, but I won't complain. He really creeped me out.

Winslet and Wilson both have distant relationships with their spouses. A retired cop convinces Wilson to play on his football team. Haley lives with his mother. Neighbors terrorize Haley with posters, graffiti, and fliers. There are a few other story shards that are flying around as well. Winslet and Wilson make a connection and start thinking about cheating. At this point, the film is balancing it all pretty well, albeit precariously. Then, when it comes time to attempt to move towards resolutions, everthing fell apart. Certain storylines are dropped. Annoying cliches pop up. And ultimately I am not sure that Haley's character even fits into this movie at all. His storyline is interesting, but I didn't feel like Field tied it into the other major storyline well enough. It almost felt like watching 2 different movies at once.

As the film neared its end, I found the conclusion of nearly every storyline to be unsatisfying. Haley's resolution is at least interesting, but I still wanted to know more. The second half of the movie felt like there were chunks missing. I wonder if there is a director's cut out there somewhere that solves these problems.

In summary, the movie has unrealized potential. I still look forward to giving Fields' In The Bedroom a chance. I saw enough promise from him in Little Children to interest me in what else he has to offer, but my hopes won't be incredibly high.

Sorry about my thoughts being a bit disorganized on this one, but honestly, I found the last third of the movie to be so jumbled, that I am having trouble summarizing my thoughts on it into cohesive paragraphs. Oh well. I am really not sure if there is a bad scene in the entire movie, it is just they way that they are all tied together that bothered me.

Rolling Rankings:
1. Pulp Fiction (#8)

2. Napoleon Dynamite (#5)

3. A Prairie Home Companion (#11)

4. Grave of the Fireflies (#4)

5. The Illusionist (#9)

6. Dr. No (#7)

7. Little Children (#12)

8. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (#3)

9. Fahrenheit 9/11 (#10)

10. Heist (#6)

key:

masterpiece

excellent

good

mixed bag

more bad than good

garbage

Movie 11: A Prairie Home Companion

A Prairie Home Companion (2006) by Robert Altman
starring Garrison Keilllor, Meryl Streep & ensemble cast

In a nutshell: A slow-moving, beautiful, and appropriate swan song for Altman

A Prairie Home Companion is an adaptation of Garrison Keillor's beloved radio show. It centers around the final episode of a fictionalized version of the live radio show before its cancellation.

I hate to admit that I have only seen 2 Robert Altman movies: this and Gosford Park...and I don't remember much about Gosford Park. In fact I remember next to nothing about it (watched it during those college years that I often reference) except that nothing seemed to happen. Well, I do plan on rewatching Gosford Park eventually, but my point was that even though I don't remember anything about the film, that I was almost immediately able to recognize A Prairie Home Companion as a work of Altman's. His style is unmistakable; the camera seems to just float through scenes, capturing its surroundings, rather than capturing only a specific storyline. Every shot seems to pan very slowly, either around a room or following a character.

The movie is about death. Between the show ending, Lola's (Lindsay Lohan) poetry, the death of a character, and a mysterious woman who may be lethal, death is everywhere. Some people want to ignore it (Keillor), some people want to prepare for it (Streep). There is some fascinating dialogue between characters discussing how the show should handle its own death. Should the cast go out with a bang? Should they give a speech? Should they pretend like it isn't the final episode at all? The film does not give us answers, but makes us think about such things. Keillor has possibly my favorite line in the entire film when someone asks him "you don't want people to remember you?", he responds "I don't want people to be TOLD to remember me."

The themes of death in the film go deeper than I can discuss here, and death itself is even personified to some degree, but I won't spoil.

Fans of the radio show will not be disappointed, either. During breaks in the narrative, we cut to the various acts. I have never heard the real show, but, from what I have heard from fans, the movie remains very faithful to the spirit of it.

The performances are mostly top notch. The large ensemble cast features Keillor playing himself, Lily Tomlin and the incomparable Meryl Streep as a pair of singing sisters, Lindsay Lohan as Streep's daughter, John C. Reilly and Woody Harrelson as a pair of singing/joking cowboys, Kevin Kline as a bumbling detective-type, Maya Rudolph as a stage manager, Tommy Lee Jones as a heartless businessman, and Virginia Madsen as the mysterious woman in white.

Kline's performance is both subtle and comedic. Both pairings, Tomlin/Streep and Reilly/Harrelson have perfect timing and chemstry together. In fact the entire cast seems to have chemistry. They make you believe that they have been performing together for years upon years. And individually, Streep is fantastic as well.

For those of you looking for a strong narrative, you will not find one here. We watch the characters react to the final show and perform their acts, but there is only a hint of a larger storyline. There are a few oddly placed gags, and a couple iffy line deliveries, but they are not enough to take away from the film. One must wonder if Altman concentrated on death so much because he was pondering his own mortality. Sure enough, he passed away shorty after making this film. It is a rare thing for a director to go out with a strong performance, but Altman surely does.

Despite being about death, the movie is not a downer. The characters love what they are doing so much that their joy is contageous.

My last comment is a recommendation to really pay attention while watching this movie. A lot of stuff going on in the background is worth paying attention to, and adds more layers to the film.

Rolling Rankings:
1. Pulp Fiction (#8)

2. Napoleon Dynamite (#5)

3. Raising Arizona (#2)

4. A Prairie Home Companion (#11)

5. Grave of the Fireflies (#4)

6. The Illusionist (#9)

7. Dr. No (#7)

8. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (#3)

9. Fahrenheit 9/11 (#10)

10. Heist (#6)

Movie 10: Fahrenheit 9/11

Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004) by Michael Moore

In a nutshell: Didn't care for Moore's games this time around

Michael Moore takes on the Bush presidency.

I loved Bowling for Columbine although I recognized Michael Moore's many tricks that he uses to make points. He is definitely not an impartial interviewer. By inserting himself, he is able to manipulate the tone of his interviews to make the interviewee either seem sympathetic or stupid. Rarely does he present an interview that offers the viewer the opportunity to make a decision on their own as other great documentarians (such as Errol Morris) do. In Bowling for Columbine, he uses this tactic skillfully while tackling a topic that pretty much everyone is united against: violence in America. In contrast, in Fahrenheit 9/11, he takes on MUCH more two-sided issues, and the holes in his method really show.

I did not care for the way he speaks down to his viewers. He treats us as though we cannot think on our own. He oversimplifies arguments for his own convenience. Personally I don't care for Bush, and consider myself more of a democrat, but that doesn't make it ok for me. Moore has some good points, but really insulted my intelligence while making them. He can't resist pulling one of his stunts, walking around capital hill, trying to get senators to sign their kids up for the military. Of course they aren't going to stop and sign them up on the spot! He has really put them in a situation where they cannot come out looking good.

Another example of a good point that he screws up is when he gets a congressman or senator (don't remember which) to admit that they don't fully read the bills they approve. First of all, I wouldn't expect them to read every one, but they damn well better have a good idea of the basic jist of them (which I am sure they do). But Moore doesn't give the senator/congressman an opportunity to follow up on his initial statement that they don't read the bills in full. THEN he goes and reads the entire patriot act through a megaphone on an ice cream truck as he drives around Washington. I am sorry, but what does this accomplish?? It gives him some material for his trailer, but that's about it.

The movie still has some moving moments. Not surprisingly, the scene that I found to be most powerful came when Moore kept his ugly face off the screen for once. The mother of a soldier that was killed in Iraq confronts a woman on the street who is basically blowing off the anti-war protestors by saying that it is all an act (or something along those lines). The mother obviously takes offense and her emotions are real. Furthermore, she has not been lead into any emotions by Moore's loaded questions.

Make no mistake, Moore tackles important issues, and as long as he does, I will continue watching his films, but that does not mean that I have to like them. Rather, I will watch them with a careful eye, trying not to be led to any of Moore conclusions unless I am able to arrive at those same opinions on my own.

Rolling Rankings:
1. Pulp Fiction (#8)

2. Sideways (#1)

3. Napoleon Dynamite (#5)

4. Raising Arizona (#2)

5. Grave of the Fireflies (#4)

6. The Illusionist (#9)

7. Dr. No (#7)

8. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (#3)

9. Fahrenheit 9/11 (#10)

10. Heist (#6)

Movie 9: The Illusionist

The Illusionist (2006) by Neil Burger
starring Edward Norton, Paul Giamatti & Jessica Biel

In a nutshell: You either buy into it or you don't. I did.

Content: This movie presents an interesting case (I will do my best not to spoil secrets). It should work for you if you buy into one of these two possibilities: Eisenheim (Norton) either has some supernatural powers or he can actually pull off some very very believable, complicated, and otherwise unexplained illusions. It really doesn't seem like the movie wants you to believe that anything is supernatural, so if you are a stickler for what illusionists can and cannot do, then you may have a problem with this film. Luckily, for me, my brain was able to just relax and enjoy the movie for what it was.

Quick synopsis: Eisenheim the Illusionist discovers that his long lost love, Sophie is being courted by the generally evil Crown Prince of Vienna in the 19th century (I think).

Even though I enjoyed the film, I did recognize some flaws. I thought that Norton's performance was actually the weakest in the film, as Giamatti was his usual impressive self as Chief Inspector Uhl, Biel was surprisingly good as Eisenheim's long lost love, Sophie, and Rufus Sewell turns in a menacing performance as the slightly crazy, utterly joyless Crown Prince Leopold.

As is sometimes common in period pieces, there is an accent issue. The film takes place in Austria-Hungary, but everyone speaks with British accents, even though the actors are American. So when the actors sometimes struggle with their fake British accent, it is strange that they even bothered, since the film does not take place in or near Britain. Oh well...another thing you just have to accept.

There is an odd use of narration in the film. Uhl's voice pops up only 3 or 4 times and it is unclear whether he is speaking to the audience or to someone else. Eventually it is revealed that he is recounting the events of the first 2/3 of the film to Leopold, which makes the narration all the more strange because it definitely came across as being directed towards the audience, who has no prior knowledge of the characters, whereas the prince certainly does. Again, this is only going to bother you if you let it. Additionally, the movie switched perspectives about halfway through, from Eisenheim's perspective to that of Uhl, making it obvious that Eisemheim is hiding something. However this is also not a huge deal because Eisenheim is a magician, so of course he has something to hide. It is more a question of how much does he have to hide. It is just kind of odd how we switch from knowing what Eisenheim knows, to what Uhl knows.

The film uses a very bland color palette to achieve an aged feel. This works well. We mostly see shades of yellow brown and red, with blues and greens sneaking in only occasionally. The score is creepy and appropriate.

It is inevitable that this movie is compared to The Prestige which came out at nearly the same time. I prefer The Prestige to this film because it doesn't try to cheat by not explaining its tricks, while this film does. It explains clearly how certain tricks were done, while also employing a bit of science fiction which is still explained. The Prestige also has another significant advantage over The Illusionist in atmospheric master Christopher Nolan at the helm, while this is Neil Burger's first significant film.

Overall, it's worth a watch, but it's not the kind of movie most viewers need to watch more than once.

Rolling Rankings:
1. Pulp Fiction (#8)

2. Sideways (#1)

3. Napoleon Dynamite (#5)

4. Raising Arizona (#2)

5. Grave of the Fireflies (#4)

6. The Illusionist (#9)

7. Dr. No (#7)

8. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (#3)

9. Heist (#6)