Music From The Movies,
Saturday, October 17th at 7pm
 FRESH...we check out What's New on the Soundtrack Shelf! Included are scores from three recent films. Listen for The Time Traveler's Wife (pictured; score by Mychael Danna), Taking Woodstock (Danny Elfman), and Dust of Time (Eleni Karaindrou). In new reviews, the Coen Bros. explore their Jewish roots in A Serious Man; Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx face off in Law Abiding Citizen; and Maurice Sendak's classic children's book Where The Wild Things Are reaches the big screen.****NEW IN THEATERS (by Regina with Jared Counts)****  CIRQUE DU FREAK: THE VAMPIRE'S ASSISTANT. (Universal Pictures. 1 hour, 48 minutes. Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense supernatural violence and action, disturbing images, thematic elements and some language. Directed by Paul Weitz.) John C. Reilly (Larten Crepsley), Josh Hutcherson (Steve), Chris Massoglia (Darren Shan), Jessica Carlson (Rebecca), Michael Cerveris (Mr. Tiny), Ray Stevenson (Murlaugh), Ken Watanabe (Mr. Tall), Salma Hayek (Madame Truska), Willem Defoe (Gavner Purl). Music by Stephen Trask. After attending a performance by a traveling freak show, Darren (Massoglia) and his friend Steve (Hutcherson) are dragged into a conflict between vampires and the vampeneze. In order to save his friend's life from a deadly spider bite, Darren becomes a half-vampire and indentures himself to a 200-year-old vampire named Crepsley (Reilly). A disappointing movie that never adds up to the sum of its parts.The Vampire's Assistant couldn't have picked a better time to come out, what with the success of True Blood and Twilight (the next installment of which is coincidentally being directed by Paul Weitz's brother Chris). However, tonal inconsistencies, poor plotting and some lackluster performances dog the film. It tries to be too many things at once, veering from comedy to drama to coming-of-age tale without succeeding in any. Making matters worse, the plot lopes from point to point haphazardly before culminating in a messy climax that resolves nothing. Ask an easily distracted 12-year-old to summarize the first three books in the Cirque du Freak series, and you'll get a feel for the movie. The cast performs well enough, and it's nice to see Reilly in a role that doesn't involve gratuitous flatulence, but Massoglia doesn't have the chops to carry the lead role. In light of all the freakiness, his character is bland and flat, making him seem disconnected. Hutcherson doesn't fare much better, coming off as a bully and an unconvincing "best friend" to Massoglia. Just another case of squandered potential. —Jared  A SERIOUS MAN. (Focus Features. 1 hour, 45 minutes. Rated R for language, drug use, some sexuality/nudity and brief violence. Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen.) Michael Stuhlbarg (Larry Gopnik), Richard Kind (Uncle Arthur), Fred Melamed (Sy Ableman), Sari Lennick (Judith Gopnik), Alan Mandell (Rabbi Marshak), Simon Helberg (Rabbi Scott), George Wyner (Rabbi Nachtner), Amy Landecker (Mrs. Samsky), Fyvush Finkel (Dybbuk). Music by Carter Burwell. "Why does God make us feel the questions, if he's not going to give us any answers?" Thus pleads Larry, the protagonist (and only reasonably-likable person) to one of a series of rabbis in the latest sort-of comedy from the Coen Brothers. There is a prologue set in long-ago Poland, where the wife of a poor Jewish farmer questions whether an old traveler visiting them is actually a dybbuk (the soul of a dead man sent back from Hell). This scene is entirely in Yiddish. OK.Then we're in 1967 Minneapolis, where the aforementioned Larry is a family man and physics professor. His wife Judith unexpectedly asks for a divorce, as she has taken up with the blustery Sy ("We're gonna be fine," he says as he hugs Larry), his daughter wants a nose job, his son is a pothead and slacking off from his Hebrew studies, and Larry's unemployed brother Arthur is forever draining the large cyst on his shoulder while working on his probability map of the universe. Wait, I'm not done: Larry's upcoming tenure is threatened by an anonymous letter-writer, and his comely neighbor insists on sunbathing in the nude. Oh yeah, one of Larry's students is trying to bribe him for a better grade. Ready to rush to the theater yet? There are some mildly funny scenes (the bar mitzvah scene is good), but if there is some great existential point being made here, I missed it. The Coens are undeniably talented (see Blood Simple or Raising Arizona for proof), but with Burn After Reading and this, I'm wondering if they need to take a sabbatical. —Regina  WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE. (Warner Brothers. 1 hour, 34 minutes. Rated PG for mild thematic elements, some adventure action and brief language. Directed by Spike Jonze.) Max Records (Max), Catherine Keener (Mom), James Gandolfini (Carol), Lauren Ambrose (KW), Paul Dano (Alexander), Catherine O'Hara (Judith), Forest Whitaker (Ira), Chris Cooper (Douglas). Music by Carter Burwell and Karen Orzolek. Max (Records), a young boy with a single mom (Keener) and an older sister who has "outgrown" him, gets into an argument with his mother and runs away from home. He comes across a small boat, braves an angry sea, sails to an island populated by fantastic creatures and becomes their king. Spike Jonze succeeds in bringing a beloved children's book to life.Given the brevity of Maurice Sendak's original work, Wild Things takes a few liberties with the text. The plot is very simple, and gets stretched a little thin in places. However, the movie never feels less than genuine, telling a lot of the story without dialogue and giving the film a surprisingly contemplative feel. Jonze and co-conspirator David Eggers draw some very subtle parallels between Max's island life and his home life, which only heightens the emotional impact. Records seems very much like a real 8-year-old, prone to the tantrums and flights of fancy of that age. Keener is wonderful as his doting but overworked mother, and the voicework of a very talented cast really breathes life into the creatures on Max's island. The Things themselves, a mix of costumed actors and CGI faces, are an amazing achievement in special effects and have a much more concrete presence than purely CG characters would (funny, since they're imaginary creatures). The soundtrack, by Coen Brothers regular Burwell and Karen O. (of the indie rock band the Yeah Yeah Yeahs), is odd but engaging, and compliments the lush cinematography well. A sparse yet beautiful testament to the joys and hardships of childhood. —Jared  LAW ABIDING CITIZEN. (Overture Films. 2 hours, 2 minutes. Rated R for strong bloody brutal violence and torture, a scene of rape and pervasive language. Directed by F. Gary Gray.) Jamie Foxx (Nick Rice), Gerard Butler (Clyde Shelton), Colm Meaney (Det. Dunnigan), Bruce McGill (Jonas Cantrell), Leslie Bibb (Sarah Lowell), Regina Hall (Kelly Rice), Viola Davis (Mayor). Music by Brian Tyler. Foxx and Butler are well-matched in this drama which works up to a point. Nick Rice is a hotshot prosecutor trying to help Clyde Shelton, whose wife and daughter were brutally murdered by two men. One of the men gets away with a light sentence and Shelton thinks the justice system is a joke (well, he's got reason). Fast-forward ten years: Shelton's turned into a psychotic avenger bent on sending a message to the public by way of a series of high-profile assassinations, which he manages to continue even after he's apprehended. Of course, "only one man" can stop him: guess who. Well-done mayhem movie eventually sags in final third under the weight of increasingly-implausible plot developments. Philadelphia location is refreshing change from New York or Los Angeles, particularly when the beautiful City Hall complex is highlighted. Verdict: Not bad, not great. —Regina  COUPLES RETREAT. (Universal Pictures. 1 hour, 47 minutes. Rated PG-13 on appeal for sexual content and language. Directed by Peter Billingsley.) Vince Vaughn (Dave), Jason Bateman (Jason), Faizon Love (Shane), Jon Favreau (Joey), Malin Akerman (Ronnie), Kristen Bell (Cynthia), Kristin Davis (Lucy). Music by A.R. Rahman. Anal-retentive couple Jason and Cynthia (Bateman and Bell) goad their friends into a tropical beach vacation. However, once on the island, they're confronted with "Couple Skill Building" and yoga with airy Frenchman Marcel (Jean Reno, a far cry from his role in The Professional) instead of parties and jet skis. A good cast and some funny scenes round out an amusing, if a bit mediocre, bit of comic fluff.It's almost hard to believe that Vaughn and Favreau, the duo that wrote the classic bro-comedy Swingers, helped write this movie, which lacks so much of the wit and verve of the former. The cast does help to alleviate some of this, with Bateman and Love hitting their marks while Favreau and Vaughn exhibit some of their old chemistry. The ladies, on the other hand, are relegated to the background, with each being given a stereotype to fulfill and little else. Reno is amiable enough as the fabled "couples whisperer," but Peter Serafinowicz and Carlos Ponce (as a mouthy concierge and a swarthy, under-dressed yoga instructor, respectively) run away with their scenes. Too many lulls between funny scenes stretch the movie about 15 minutes too long. Even with that, the ending still feels rushed, predictable and fairly unconvincing. This is the first film directed by Billingsley (best known as Little Ralphie from A Christmas Story) and it shows. At least the scenery is pretty. A decent comedy that hits about as much as it misses. —Jared  COCO AVANT CHANEL (Coco Before Chanel). (Sony Pictures Classics/Warner Bros. In French with English subtitles. 1 hour, 50 minutes. Rated PG-13 for sexual content and smoking. Directed by Anne Fontaine.) Audrey Tautou (Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel), Benoît Poelvoorde (Étienne Balsan), Alessandro Nivola (Arthur "Boy" Capel), Marie Gillain (Adrienne Chanel), Emmanuelle Devos (Emilienne d'Alençon). Music by Alexandre Desplat. Dullish telling of the story of the famous couturier (1883-1971) from her humble beginnings in an orphanage in rural France. She and her sister struggle through an early show-business career, but the boyish Gabrielle is no dance-hall girl (the "Coco" nickname comes from a popular song she sang in those days.) She intrigues a baron with her frank talk and menswear-inspired clothes, and through her relationships with similar rich men, she is able to get her own business started (first as a milliner, then a dressmaker).Tautou's expression (disaffected? Inscrutable?) doesn't seem to change through the first hour of the movie. She can only depend on those big brown eyes for so much. There are some long, slow stretches as Chanel is shown living at the baron's country estate. She is among the rich, but is not of them; OK, we get it. We don't get to Paris until the final minutes of the movie, but by that time one is rather disconnected from the proceedings. Pleasant-enough music by Desplat, but doesn't live up to his recent offerings (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is still his best score so far). A far more involving movie about another French icon is La vie en rose, the Edith Piaf biography from 2007 starring Marion Cotillard (she won the Oscar, and deservedly so). I've always admired the clothes, and Chanel No.5 is still the best perfume ever, but I can't quite recommend this Coco. —Regina  THE INVENTION OF LYING. (Warner Bros. 1 hour, 39 minutes. Rated PG-13 for language, including some sexual material and a drug reference. Directed by Ricky Gervais and Matthew Robinson.) Ricky Gervais (Mark Bellison), Jennifer Garner (Anna McDoogles), Rob Lowe (Brad Kessler), Jonah Hill (Frank), Louis C.K. (Greg), Jeffrey Tambor (Anthony), Tina Fey (Shelley). Music by Tim Atack. Narrated by Patrick Stewart. Gervais is an acquired taste; I haven't watched The Office but I liked him in Ghost Town. Here he tries for a Woody-Allen-three-fer (writer, director, actor) and succeeds only to a point. The high-concept story is based on a world where everyone always tells the truth. Gervais is a movie screenwriter (well, when there's no fiction, I guess you just write true stories) with a dying mother. The script wrings some laughs early on when schlub Gervais goes on a date with the stunning Garner (she's on the phone, in front of him, telling her mother he doesn't measure up).As the movie's title indicates, Gervais eventually figures out how to lie and uses it to his own advantage. It's a kind of flip of Jim Carrey's Liar, Liar (a better movie) with some of Bill Murray's Groundhog Day (better still) thrown in. The deck is stacked with a cast of comedians (and some good, unexpected cameos). But things take a turn, and become less funny, when avowed atheist Gervais begins to explore death and religion in the second half. The critics at the Toronto Film Festival screening I went to thought it was OK overall, but would probably work better as a 20-minute skit than a full-length feature. Good idea doesn't make it all the way to "The End." —Regina  WHIP IT. (Fox Searchlight. 1 hour, 51 minutes. Rated PG-13 for sexual content including crude dialogue, language and drug material. Directed by Drew Barrymore.) Ellen Page (Bliss Cavendar), Alia Shawkat (Pash), Marcia Gay Harden (Brooke Cavender), Daniel Stern (Earl Cavender), Kristen Wiig (Maggie Mayhem), Drew Barrymore (Smashley Simpson). Music by The Section Quartet. Bliss (Page), a girl in the small Texas town of Bodeen, finds an escape from her overbearing mother in the form of a roller derby flier. Clad in Barbie roller skates and lying about her age, she tries out for the Hurl Scouts, a team in nearby Austin, and begins her second life as Babe Ruthless.Though it does contain some of the old sports-movie clichés (underdog team rallies around talented rookie, outside problems threaten to sideline said rookie, etc.), Whip It's solid cast, good writing and strong performances buoy the film. Page is quite a talented actress, easily switching gears from her usually timid persona during the day to her "badass in training" nights. Wiig and Barrymore, along with stunt woman Zoe Bell (Death Proof), rapper Eve and Andrew Wilson (older brother to Luke and Owen), form a convincingly scrappy but supportive team. Harden is proud and driven as Bliss's mom, and Stern is great as Bliss's secretly supportive dad. The film deftly balances the two halves of its narrative, paralleling Bliss's maturation with the evolution of the Hurl Scouts as a team. The action in the rink is exhilarating, and makes me want to seek out the local league. It's empowering without being overbearing, funny without being too silly and emotional without being sappy. An invigorating sports film from rookie director Barrymore. —Jared  CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY. (Overture Films. 2 hours. Rated R for some language. Directed by and starring Michael Moore.) Music by Jeff Gibbs. In his latest film, documentarian and rabble-rouser Michael Moore tackles capitalism with the thesis that it is a corrupt system that benefits the few at the expense of the many. Given the director, it's better to approach this film as a cinematic editorial than unabashed truth. In deference to his previous movies, Capitalism seems very personal as Moore weaves his narrative through his life and the grim fate of his childhood home, Flint, Michigan. Moore's knack for showmanship is present but toned-down, providing some entertaining scenes without disrupting the flow. Whether trying to decipher the enigma of Wall Street's "derivatives," informing us about "dead peasant insurance" or showing some eerily topical found footage of an ailing FDR, Moore deftly mixes gallows humor and genuine outrage. It is by no means a perfect movie, as some of his arguments are a bit specious, some cheap shots are taken (several at former President Reagan) and a few punches are pulled (especially with regards to President Obama), but Moore accomplishes something good: he gets you thinking. Love him or hate him, he's laying the groundwork for a long-overdue discussion we all need to have. —Jared ZOMBIELAND. (Touchstone Pictures. 1 hour, 20 minutes. Rated R for horror violence/gore and language. Directed by Ruben Fleischer.) Jesse Eisenberg (Columbus), Woody Harrelson (Tallahassee), Emma Stone (Wichita), Abigail Breslin (Little Rock). Music by David Sardy. Columbus (Eisenberg) is a nerdy, gawky kid living in a zombie-infested wasteland using his wits, a double-barreled shotgun and an ever-expanding book of rules for survival. On his trip, he meets Tallahassee (Harrelson), a no-nonsense zombie killer in search of Twinkies, and the con-artist duo of Wichita and Little Rock (Stone and Breslin, respectively), who successfully bilk the other two out of their guns, car and dignity. What follows is a rip-roaring road trip through Post-Apocalyptia that will leave you in stitches.I'll lay this out now: Zombieland is hilarious. The plot is simple enough: the four aforementioned survivors (each taking the name of their original destination) band together to go to an amusement park in California, both for nostalgia and for the rumor that it's not infested with zombies. The real meat of the movie, however, is the way the different personalities bounce off of one another. Tallahassee is pure, unfettered id, taking a perverse glee in not only killing zombies, but destroying them. Columbus, a former paranoid shut-in and the least likely survivor of the bunch, adheres religiously to his set of rules, which appear onscreen from time to time to illustrate his points (such as "limber up," "always wear a seatbelt," and "two shots to the head makes sure it's dead"). Wichita and Little Rock are just looking out for number one. It's gory, it's fun, it's funny and it contains one of the most startlingly appropriate celebrity cameos ever (I don't want to spoil it, and you should avoid the film's IMDb page too). Pretty good job for your first time, Mr. Fleischer. —Jared  BRIGHT STAR. (Apparition. 1 hour, 59 minutes. Rated PG for thematic elements, some sensuality, brief language and incidental smoking. Directed by Jane Campion.) Abbie Cornish (Fanny Brawne), Ben Whishaw (John Keats), Thomas Sangster (Samuel Brawne), Paul Schneider (Charles Armitage Brown), Kerry Fox (Mrs. Brawne). Music by Marc Bradshaw. Unabashedly romantic, in the best sense. That word is mostly used by filmmakers these days in the phrase "romantic comedy," and those are usually neither romantic nor funny. This is less like Campion's In the Cut (remember that Meg Ryan/Mark Ruffalo fiasco from a few years ago?) and closer in tone to her best-known work, The Piano. Cornish is particularly impressive as the doomed poet John Keats' muse. Not a great deal happens here, but the actors and Campion do a lot with a little. And there's that gorgeous poetry. Listen also for the interesting use of music in the film: well-chosen, yet sparingly used. Stay through the credits to hear Whishaw recite "Ode to a Nightingale." Bright Star is a small, yet shiny gem. —Regina***WHAT'S NEW ON DVD!***  EASY VIRTUE. (Sony. 1 hour, 36 minutes. Rated PG-13 for sexual content, brief partial nudity, and smoking throughout. Directed by Stephan Elliott.) Jessica Biel (Larita Whittaker), Colin Firth (Mr. Whittaker), Kristin Scott Thomas (Mrs. Whittaker), Ben Barnes (John Whittaker), Kimberley Nixon (Hilda Whittaker), Katherine Parkinson (Marion Whittaker), Kris Marshall (Furber). Music by Marius de Vries. Sophisticated fun. Australian director Elliott is best known for The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. But that was 15 years ago, and except for a couple of projects that came and went, where has he been? Turns out in 2004 he had a serious skiing accident where he broke his back, pelvis and legs. Now recovered, he's marking his return by taking on that most ironic of British playwrights, Noël Coward, with his adaptation of the 1924 Easy Virtue. (There was a previous silent film adaptation in 1928, directed by a young Alfred Hitchcock.) It's not top-drawer Coward (Blithe Spirit, Design for Living, etc.) but this early effort still has the man's wit and sense of fun. The plot, which is fairly unimportant, involves John, a young man returning to his ancestral home in the English countryside with his new wife Larita, an American (gasp!) race-car driver (shocking!) and divorcée (ooohhhhh). Mother is offended, while Father is, well, intrigued. Adding to the fun are John's two sisters, Hilda and Marion, who have issues of their own.Like all of Coward, the meat is in the witty lines and zingers flung amongst the participants. Here, not too surprisingly, the veterans (Scott Thomas and Firth) have the upper hand. Biel gives a good try but isn't really of-the-period as Larita. (She does a nice job singing Coward's "Mad About the Boy.") Kris Marshall does nicely as Furber the long-suffering butler. The soundtrack is a mixed bag: period songs include a few classics by Coward himself ("Mad Dogs and Englishmen," "I'll See You Again") along with Cole Porter et.al.; original score by de Vries; and some adaptations of more-recent songs which don't really work (the credits have us hearing Billy Ocean's "When the Going Gets Tough"). Still, it's an enjoyable romp for those who appreciate good dialogue, performed by and for grownups. Those requiring CGI, quick cuts, jiggly cameras, or cars blowing up need not apply. The DVD includes deleted scenes, a blooper reel, and commentary with the director and screenwriter Sheridan Jobbins. —Regina  A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT (BLU-RAY). (Sony. 1992/2009. Rated PG for momentary nudity and some language in a family drama. 2 hours, 3 minutes. Directed and narrated by Robert Redford.) Craig Sheffer (Norman Maclean), Brad Pitt (Paul Maclean), Tom Skerritt (Rev. Maclean), Brenda Blethyn (Mrs. Maclean), Emily Lloyd (Jessie Burns), Edie McClurg (Mrs. Burns), Stephen Shellen (Neal Burns), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Young Norman), Vann Gravage (Young Paul), Susan Traylor (Rawhide). Music by Mark Isham. Lovely, lyrical film version of the memoir by Norman Maclean, written when he was 70, about his growing-up years with his parents and brother in post-World-War-I Montana. The famous first line of the book is repeated by Redford's narrator: "In our family, there was no clear line between religion and fly fishing." I like this movie more every time I see it. At first glance, one could characterize older son Norman as the "good" one and Paul as the "bad" but that would be too facile. As every young man must do, both have to sort out their place in life, not so easy when your father is a strict Presbyterian Scot and the town's minister. Sheffer (the more experienced actor at this point, who got first billing) and the reliable Skerritt give solid performances. So does Pitt in his first significant early role, although I didn't really see the dark streak his character was supposed to have. But that didn't matter too much: even Skerritt's Reverend would call his younger son "beautiful."British actress Emily Lloyd is charming as Norman's love interest. Jessie too is searching for her place in the first defining period of change for women in the 20th century, the 1920's "flapper" era of bobbed hair, rolled stockings, and women smoking! Comedy is provided by Jessie's spoiled, blustering brother Neal when he makes the acquaintance of the local prostitute "Rawhide." Big themes are touched on here: war, religion, sex, music, race (Paul causes a stir with his Indian lover; even speakeasies have house rules). However, the screenplay, and Redford's direction, don't hit you over the head with anything; the movie allows you to come to it in a measured and thoughtful way. Beautiful Montana scenery by Philippe Rousselot (who won the movie's only Oscar); atmospheric, non-intrusive score by Mark Isham (hired after Redford rejected Elmer Bernstein's first pass at the music). Blu-ray edition includes a 32-page souvenir book, plus featurettes and deleted scenes. Definitely worth taking another trip on this river; don't forget your rod and reel. —Regina > view printer-friendly version > return to previous page |