Happy Birthday to
Brenda Vaccaro
72 today
Are you trying to imagine where you've seen Brenda? Maybe as a TV staple, including a voice in Cartoon Network's "Johnny Bravo", or maybe as Bab's BFF in The Mirror has Two Faces or maybe you're casting your mind back still further to playing scrabble with a naked Jon Voight in Midnight Cowboy. A-ha you've got her now, superb performances but alas still an I know you actress rather than an a-lister. Seems to be semi-retired these days.
Friday, 18 November 2011
Brenda Vaccaro
Wednesday, 16 November 2011
Straw Dogs
2011. Dir: Rod Lurie. Starring: James Marsden, Kate Bosworth, Alexander Skarsgård, James Woods and Dominic Purcell. ●●●○○
Note there is no way of reviewing Rod Lurie's Straw Dogs without spoilers, largely because of the history of the original ground-breaking 1971 exploitation film, directed by Sam Peckinpah. In fact I doubt it's possible to review the film without explicit comparison to it's forebear because of that unique legacy, we will have to address - in detail - the iconic scenes that even people who haven't seen the film know and the social and cultural landscape in which the films were made. Therefore if you haven't seen the movie and you still wish to do so I would not advise reading on...
Thank you for joining me.
Back in the early 70’s Pekinpah was exploring the cinema-going audiences capacity to take violence, and whilst his Rio Bravo inspired siege movie didn’t have the genre defining revisionism he would later bring to The Wild Bunch it’s fair to say he still turned a few heads. His thesis was that man was at heart an vicious beast, prepared act on ultra-violent urges if his property or family were threatened. Dustin Hoffman’s mild mannered mathematician cuts a desperate, lonely figure, haunted by the rape of his wife and the invasion of his Cornish farmhouse by inhospitable locals, his anguish and loss of self control as he fights back is palpable. Peckinpah was taunting us with the barely disguised brutal reality of the human animal underneath this veneer of respectability in modern society.
At the time the movie caused a stir for it’s graphic depiction of violence, and especially for the murky issue of consensual rape which earned the film it’s video nasty tag when it was refused release in the 1980’s on this side on the pond. Yet here we are 40 years later, with torture porn and stalker pics regularly leading the box office charts and gradually upping the gore quotient to the extent that the content of the original now seems tame and unthreatening, even if the sexual assault sequence still retains part of it’s power. Would the remake try to outdo it’s predecessor? Where would it fit on the scale of violent semi-horrors? Does the rape still provoke controversy?
Well. No, not very high and yes and no.
The remake opens with James Marsden’s geeky but (let’s face it) buff screenwriter with gorgeous actress wife Kate Bosworth returning to her small Louisiana hometown, it’s a society ruled by hunting and church. Where the former stars of the football team are idolised well beyond their prime, slowly developing into the straw dogs of the title, abandoned Gods seeking ways to reassert their alpha male status, eager to torture the weaker or more passive members of the community.
Of course it doesn’t take long for the unlucky couple to walk into Bosworth’s ex, a hulking roofer (Skarsgaard) with a natty line in vests and the barest of flames still for his former squeeze, and Marsden being the naive townie that he is takes no hesitation in hiring his competitor to fix the barn. Needless to say the relationships between the central trio, and Skarsgaard’s cohorts of handymen soon breaks down with false acts of friendship and escalating war of words between the two men masking the battle for Bosworth’s body.
There are three stages of the violent acts, against the pets, the wife and finally the house, and each of these needs to be tackled separately.
Something terrible happens to Bosworth’s pussy (no, we’re not on that bit yet) whilst the couple are at a town picnic, and the first reveal of this is both shocking and extremely well handled. Marsden opens a wardrobe and we and he see the deceased moggy, but we see it over his shoulder, partly obscured, enough to recognise what happened but not so we are taken out of the moment. This tension is then ruined when the cupboard is opening again and we see a cuddly toy suspended by a belt. Oh, when will filmmakers learn that less is more? This is also the point realism gets thrown out of the window because I for one would certainly report that to the Sheriff.
The final set piece involves the storming of the farm as the brooding roofers, egged on by the drunk James Woods (involving but not stretching) attempt to force their way into the couples isolated farmhouse, ostensibly to deal out some justice to the mentally ill local seeking refuse after accidently killing a local girl (more on that in a bit), but also to finally conquer the outsiders, to punish their arrogance and discrete fortitude. It’s this point where all the easter eggs of destruction the overworked set designer has laid around the property come into play. Including, you’ll be delighted to hear, the antique bear trap (and not in the way you expect). There is plenty of claret flowing during the ambush but when a lackey was beaten to death by a golf club it was off-screen, making it less gory than the stylish art-flick Drive.
Which only leaves the rape. As with the original the treatment of women is complex and troubling. There are two significant female roles, the sexually precocious teenager who lures idiot savant Dominic Purcell into the locker room before being smothered by him, and Bosworth’s actress who refuses to wear a sports bra whilst jogging (and given how much she sweated I can only imagine how sore her nipples were) and who strips off in sight of the workmen in order to assert her feminist empowerment. When Marsden states she’s asking for it (a long-time prior to the assault it must be noted) you can’t help but agree. Both characters overt sexuality leads directly to their fate, even if there is no is she/isn’t she enjoying the rape moment the filmmaker still condemns her actions.
This change subtly alters the point of the movie. In the 1970’s there was the question of whether a woman could enjoy a rape fantasy, now we are more obsessed with whether the victims are in some way culpable. In the case of Willa Holland's cheerleader she clearly is responsible for her own demise, orchestrating the scenario in which the petrified Purcell must defend himself, whereas Bosworth raises the spectre of the slut walks and whether the clothing or attitude of a girl gives the man implicit permission to push the boundaries. Does the difference lie between the perpetrators understanding of their actions?
The film raises more questions than it dares to try and answer, but in doing so it deserves some applause and I would certainly enjoy the discourse this film would provide with staunch feminists. Now there's a challenge to my readers.
Overall then I would have to just about recommend this interesting example of exploitative cinema.
Maggie Gyllenhaal
Happy Birthday to
Maggie Gyllenhaal
34 today
It has to be said that Maggie does great red carpet, always stunning and always exceptionally well put together. With a career that spans high concept block busters, edgy dramas and cult favourites I expect to see Ms Gyllenhaal's career continue to grow from strength to strength. Nothing on the immediate horizon though.
Tuesday, 15 November 2011
Tuesday Trailers - Frantic Friday
Runs like a Gay needs you!
Sometimes I have to make tough decisions, a couple of weeks ago I watched Ides of March and Tintin but at the time of writing I still haven't caught up The Help, hopefully I will - given the impact the film will probably make on the awards season - but maybe the choices about what I saw that weekend are now cast in stone. We can't go back.
But in 17 days time I have an even tougher decision. There are four films released which I have been following since the idea was first put together, or since before this blog was invented in one case, and I probably won't have the opportunity to see them all. So which ones do I prioritise, how do I make Ben's choice?
This is why I need you, dear reader, the trailers are presented in alphabetical order here, but in the comments I'd like you to rank the possibilities in order that I should see them. I'll go by the consensus opinion.
The Big Year
I suspect the least votes will go to this fairly inoffensive comedy starring Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson especially given it's atrocious opening over in the States (yet to pass $7m domestic), but I did list it in my top 20 for 2011 so maybe I owe it something.
Happy Feet Two
The trailers don't seem to be selling this animated sequel terribly well, but then expectations for the original were pretty low and it went on to win the Best Animated Oscar. I simply don't see enough animated films, which explains why I'm considering this.
Hugo
On paper Martin Scorsese's latest movie is easily the top choice, with it's elaborate production and central love story to early cinema and 1920's Paris it could be unmissable. That said it's a children's film and early word has been complimentary but hardly gushing.
Margaret
Finally we have Kenneth Lonergan's very long awaited follow-up to You Can Count on Me which has sat in post production since Matt Damon and Anna Paquin looked very young. This will almost certainly be the hardest to watch on this list with a suspected limited release pattern.
I'm fairly open minded so write in nominations for other films opening in the UK on 02 December 2011 may also be considered but they will need a lot of support.
Sunday, 13 November 2011
Whoopi Goldberg
Happy Birthday to
Whoopi Goldberg
56 today
The Commedienne/Actress Goldberg doesn't exactly stretch herself these days. Recently she played God in a Kate Hudson vehicle no-one watched and next up is a cameo in the Muppets, surely her co-hosting work on The view isn't that taxing, is it?
Saturday, 12 November 2011
Rehearsing is for Frogs - (Film News - 12/11/11)
All eyes are on the Academy this week, from the moment Brett Ratner faux pas'd at a Tower Heist Q&A last Friday night the knives were out for the Oscar Producer. And probably for the best, whilst we can all appreciate the context of the comment and the vocabulary Ratner uses in interviews generally that his intention wasn't to denigrate gay men as a demographic, however the insensitivity of such an off-the-cuff remake is not in keeping of the man steering the gayest night of the Entertainment industry. As Ratner fell, so did his front man Eddie Murphy, in a career move that may be yet another turning point for the once reliable star. AMPAS then swung into damage limitation mode, quickly appointing Brian Grazer and Billy Crystal (ignoring the online campaign for the Muppets to host, hence the title) a reliable if safe choice. I suppose I should care for all this hoohar, but to be honest I don't watch the show. Of course I won't deny the Academy impacts my viewing habits, occasionally bringing a movie to my attention that I hadn't considered, but the night itself doesn't appeal. Time will tell what this will do to Ratner and Murphy's career however I suspect it will all blow over very quickly.
Moving on to the real news though.
Rule #1
At first, before reading the synopsis, I was really keen on the potential pairing of Frozen River director Courtney Hunt with Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon in a comedy, after all there aren't enough high profile films from women (of course part of that is my own inherent prejudice) and Reese is one of the best comedic performers of her generation.
Then the plot: According to THR, Witherspoon will play “34 -year old woman trying to cope with OCD, who takes in a young woman with ADD and her newborn baby in an effort to face her anxieties and ultimately get her estranged husband back. The resulting effort takes the woman’s already chaotic world spinning into the next level.”
So this is a comedy when OCD meets ADD. Whilst that does have slight thematic similarities to The Odd Couple however once the characters are labelled with mental health diagnoses it seems to be making the illness the butt of the joke rather than the interplay, of course that may change when Hunt revises the script and it ends up on screen, but I do have concerns. 
Witherspoon gave one of the most hilarious and convincing comedic performances in the noughties for Legally Blonde and it would be great to see her back in the genre.
Read on for equal rights legislation, dating thrillers, a strip of pebbles and a non-comic comic book.
Airtight/Untitled Prop. 8 Movie
You should learn something new everyday, and this week its the turn of avuncular New Yorker Rob Reiner to reveal a facet of his character that surprised and taught me. You see Reiner is one of Hollywood's leading advocates of gay rights, founder of the American Foundation of Equal Rights he is a major supporter of the campaign against Proposition 8, so much so when the legal challenges eventually end in their logical conclusion (and as a gay man I pretty much have to say the plebiscite will be overturned, even if its by the Supreme Court) he plans to dramatize the fight. It's will no doubt be a worthy court-room drama in the vein of his 96 race crime elegy Ghosts of Mississippi and whilst I am in favour of bringing this story to the multiplexes I can't help but think there's a more interesting personal story to be told about how the vote illegitimised relationships and what effect that has on them and their close families.
By the way Airtight is a heist film he's also knocking around as a possible next project - purely because he has never done one before. No details yet, but we'll have to keep an eye on it.
The Double Hour
More remakes of European thriller, this time an Italian original (maybe the rights are being sold to save the economy) which started like a rom-com with a speed-dating leading to a one-night stand leading to a kidnapping and terrible secrets held by the cop and cleaner protagonists coming out to haunt them. Joshua Marston has been tapped to direct, which will make an odd English language change of pace for him.
On Chesil Beach
I know there are fans of Ian McEwans sparse internal novel, even though I personally wasn't engaged and think it's intensely un-cinematic, however I thought I'd pass on the news that the big-screen version hasn't died when proposed director Sam Mendes left for Bond, instead the baton has been passed to Mike Newell. Unfortunately whilst Newell's a nice guy with talent I think it's fair to say he's anonymous behind a camera and I suspect that McEwan's work needs someone flashier to bring out the tension.
Wilson
Just a reiteration of Alexander Payne's desire to adapt Daniel (Ghost World) Clowes' graphic novel. I confess to not being a reader of these books, having a barely concealed prejudice against the format, but Clowes is considered as one of the greats, able to create a fully rounded story within a three panel format, so I'll certainly follow this to see how it works on screen.
Casting News
The latest bizarre casting rumour to hit the web attaches Colin Firth to Spike Lee's OldBoy remake, as the chief antagonist to Josh Brolins wrongfully imprisoned revenge seeker. Not that I doubt Firth's ability in the role, but it is pretty left field a suggestion you have to admit.
There's a small campaign (which will no doubt be crushed before the end of the year) for Colin in the Supporting Actor field for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy which conveniently brings us back to Oscar and the opening paragraph.
Ryan Gosling
Happy Birthday to
Ryan Gosling
31 today
Riding high, with two well-received dramatic turns in the last few months, Gosling's come a long way since his Mickey Mouse Club days, or since his energetic turn in Murder by Numbers - I'll never forget how he licked Sandra Bullock. Coming up next, and where this picture comes from, we'll see him reunite with Derek Cianfrance on stunt motorcyclist epic Place Beyond the Pines.
Friday, 11 November 2011
Next stop, Gonzo (Out this week - 11/11/11)
Weirdly, in spite of the fairly OK mix of movies out this weekend all I want to do since I wrote the title of this post is stare at the palindromic date. I hope I don't glance at the clock just after ten past eleven for fear of my head exploding. Of course this weirdness may be due to the stonking amount of alcohol I've had to drink in readiness for our film of the week: 
The Rum Diary
Johnny Depp isn't quite Hunter S. Thompson in this adaptation of his earliest, yet latest to be published novel about a journalist heading to Puerto Rico and finding nothing but booze and money laundering. Co-starring Richard Jenkins (wearing the best syrup in 2012) and written and directed by Withnail & I helmer Bruce Robinson, this has to be better than it's paltry US box office implies.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●●○○○○
Arthur Christmas
I really don't like the over-commodification of Christmas, and I say that as an Atheist, however I believe the celebration should be reflective of it's religious roots and not just an excuse to flog toys for two months. Yes, this is an Aardman animation so it's probably OK but you won't catch me near it. James McAvoy stars with Jim Broadbent, Imelda Staunton and Hugh Laurie.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○
Trespass
Joel Schumacher directed the worst movie I have ever seen in a cinema, no not Batman & Robin which was at least campy and bright but the utterly charmless action flick Bad Company yet I still return time and time again to see if he can top that. Nic's Cage and Kidman look like their having cheesy fun in this hostage in your own home flick so it might just be watchable.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○
Immortals
Tarsem Singh directs this latest foray into Greek Mythology, with the help of the producers of 300. Plenty of flesh in the trailer and an extraordinary visual aesthetic make this one to watch even if we expect the narrative to fall down in the same way Tarsem's previous outings have down. All eyes will be on future Superman Henry Cavill, but the brilliant supporting cast includes famous faces like Mickey Rourke and John Hurt.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○
Awakening
Nothing to do with Sleeping sickness this homegrown horror flick seems to have been trailering for months, and inspite of it's ubiquity I can safely say I have no intention of watching this derivative nonsense - with Rebecca Hall and Imelda Staunton - in a cinema.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Rockstar
This Bollywood rom-dram hasn't done much to conceal it's major plot in the title. Unless it turns out to be about India's most famous diamond cutter? I haven't seen the trailer yet so I'm on the edge of my seat about this...
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Wuthering Heights
Andrea Arnold has taken an awful lots of risks in her unique adaptation of the classic Emily Bronte gothic romance, with the casting of a black actor as Heathcliffe, anachronistic dialogue and a foreboding sense of doom creeping across the moors throughout this won't selling to the bonnet and bodice crowd, but it will make for a fascinating look at the novels themes.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Black Pond
British comedy that's getting a very limited release, possibly due to the dark nature of the concept - upper middle class family have to deal with an unexpected corpse - the surrealist trailer - or the not quite interesting enough cast list of Simon Amstell and Chris Langham.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Kill Keith
But hey that's pure genius compared to this utter dross of a sort of Tarantino parody (although really only in the title) which mixes pointless celebrity cameos and on the cheap special effects with jokes that feel old and tired in the trailer let alone in real life.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Susan Kohner
Happy Birthday to
Susan Kohner
75 today
Susan has not acted since 1964. By choice she retired, aged just 28, to raise a family. I'm sure her two children, with non Hollywood type John Weitz, count themselves lucky, not just because their parents obviously wanted the very best for them but because their mother chose to turn her back on an exceptionally promising career. Oscar nominated for her role of the light-skinned black girl dealing with prejudice in Douglas Sirk's Imitation of Life she proved she could take an unappealling character and reveal the hidden layers of vulnerability.
Wednesday, 9 November 2011
Machine Gun Preacher
2011. Dir: Marc Forster. Starring: Gerard Butler, Michelle Monaghan, Michael Shannon, Madeline Carroll and Souleymane Sy Savane. ●●○○○
I don't know where to start. There is so much wrong with Hollywood's latest over-simplification of African politics and neo-colonialism, Machine Gun Preacher, that any beginning will reduce the film to a mass of critical detritus. We could castigate the incoherent acting, the dumbed down screenplay or the thud, thud, thud pacing, and yet I feel it justifies a second blob, one for existing (no film ever deserves nothing) and one for trying to raise interesting areas for discussion, even if ultimately it fails to deliver on that promise.
On one level this is a simple sinner to saint story about a Heroin addicted Hell's angel finding God and going to Northern Uganda to build an orphanage to save the children in war-torn Somalia. Indeed I suspect the life story of Sam Childer's, the man who is literally dubbed the machine gun Preacher in West Africa is a fascinating study of redemption and ambition, but here the format is squeezed into a greatest hots montage of his life. We see him get released from jail, get angry because his wife gave up stripping, shoot up, stab a hitchhiker, go to church, get baptised, see a video about Africa, get caught up in a war, and so on. Each little vignette fails to connect with each other, his Christian zeal must come from something but we never understand what drives him to seek forgiveness, it's as if just by telling the story the audience should know how the man progresses to the next chapter of his life.
It's hard to know where the blame for this lies. I'd be tempted to say it's Gerard Butler, who switches to his usual shouty mode very early on in the movie and rarely changes gear - even when crying it's an obscenely angry form of depression. However he's not the only lost in this movie, the usually reliable Monaghan comes across as a mere cypher, failing to illuminated the long-sufffering wife and even Michael Shannon as fellow addict Donnie looks lost for most of the movie.
No I blame the script, which pushes forward into each scene without developing the characters in any meaningful way. I cannot say enough how much I wanted to understand the motivations of Childer's, especially as the presumed guilt and anger at the situation in Somalia begins to tip him towards the kind of violent fundamentalism he initially tries to reject. Not to mention several really horrid lines that completely took me out of the picture - when Childer's talks about keeping guns clean, the boy confessing his history out of the blue, when Paige (Butler's daughter) looking every inch a 15 year old asks Michael Shannon for a goodnight kiss (an incredibly creepy sequence that probably shouldn't have come across like that).
As I said there should have been so much more to this movie. At times the spectre of the Christian right's zealousness is noted, and the White America's colonialist tendencies is hinted at but these themes are never developed, essentially blunting any impact the movie actually may have.
Overall I would have to say this is a dull, missable film. I suggest picking up a copy of a fairly intelligent broadsheet, turning to the international news section and starting the conversation that way.
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