Matching Curtains

Where the Wild Things Are

2009-12-18T11:08:19+00:00

So whilst I'd like to give you all a thorough review of Spike Jonze's adaptation of Maurice Sendak's slightly morose children's book of the same name, I am afraid I can't. I committed the most heinous of all cinematic sins in Oxford's VUE last night. I fell asleep (hangs head dolefully). Was it the film's ambling, restful pace? Was it the fact the film was a bit rubbish? Or even the pitiful one glass of wine your exhausted correspondent sipped during the trailers? It's a tough call, folks.

WTWTA is indeed a rather soothing view, and I wouldn't say it was a completely terrible film (from what I saw). It is, however, too long and slow, and - dare I say it - a bit dull, with no discernible structure or coherent script. It looks amazing though; the land of the Wild Things has a feeling of real otherness and the choice of Australian forests for the movie's set location is inspired. Max Records, who plays boisterous protagonist Max and looks like a young Spike Jonze (see link here for proof!) is also surprisingly naturalistic in a movie which, however ambivalently, is rooted in the fantastical. The Wild Things, voiced by James Gandolfini (was there ever a man more equipped for such a role?!), Lauren Ambrose, Forest Whitaker and Catherine O'Hara amongst others, are delightful to behold and their shaggy fur looks so tactile I wanted to stretch into the screen and receive a big, comforting hug. So comforted was I, that I slept through the discord which breaks out amongst the Wild Things later on. But I'm told all's well that end's well, so that's alright.

The nostalgic, melancholic tone of WTWTA is definitely aimed at my generation's tendency to hanker after their childhood: from the source material right through to the Jim Henson Shop-created suits for the Wild Things. And Max's escape from his lonely childhood (single mum, distant sister, etc - an add on to the original picture book) into the world of huge and furry creatures in a faraway land is inflected with that particular brand of Freudianism so familiar to me and my contemporaries: loss of innocence, the id roaming free, etc. There's definitely a sniff of Jungian archetypes in the Wild Things, all unadulterated instinct and bestial physiques. I suspect that psychoanalysts would have a field day with Spike Jonze on the basis of this.

There's a chance that even my limited review makes the movie sound more alive than it feels. It's sombre mood and soporific pace failed to win me over, however much I wanted a group cuddle with the the creatures Max meets. Maybe I was in a sleepy grump when I saw it, but even so I felt disappointed by Jonze's latest effort (you'll remember my earlier excitement about the project from a previous blog). I've a feeling any success the movie gathers will be attributable to the whims of trendies (check out the Karen O-scribed soundtrack) and art-house movie fans than its own merit.

Dylan does Christmas

2009-12-16T14:54:27+00:00

God bless Bob Dylan. I defy anyone not to be cheered by this video (it worked for me). 'Must Be Santa' is taken from his latest album Christmas in the Heart, which my dad took great pleasure in introducing me to at a family gathering over the weekend. All proceeds will be going to feeding homeless people in every place in which the album's released, so it's worthwhile getting hold of a copy even if you're not partial to his 'weathered' vocal style :-)

Cop a load of Uncle Bob's expression when he asks, 'Who laughs this way, ho ho ho' ... whether he's taking the piss or not, this is priceless - and genuinely entertaining.

Angus and Julia Stone - 'And the Boys'

2009-12-15T15:15:05+00:00

Yes readers, I am delighted to announce that the best brother and sister duo since The Carpenters (I know, you were thinking I was going to say Donny and Marie ...) have released the first single from their new album, which is set to be on the shelves next year! Check out the pretty video here, and watch out for a fleeting glimpse of Angus on trumpet, still beautiful in spite of that nasty beard. Oh yeah - the song's good too :-)

Gigantic

2009-12-01T18:06:50+00:00

Starring Paul Dano (Little Miss Sunshine) and Zooey Deschanel (500 Days of Summer), Gigantic is yet another 'offbeat', 'quirky' and 'bittersweet' US indie movie. Yes you can read weariness in those quotation marks. And I typically love films described thus!

Dano plays Brian, a bed salesman who is applying to adopt a Chinese baby and who has unusually elderly parents; Deschanel plays Happy (so yet another silly name for one of her characters), a poor little rich girl with an absent mother and an overbearing father with psychosomatic back problems (John Goodman, always great).

The film is too arch and stylised to be a complete success, and it's obvious that it's trying hard - really hard - to be hip and different. With all this effort any feeling is almost completely lost: Deschanel is adorable but her doll-like demeanour at times seems robotic; Dano's character is so downtrodden the only interesting thing about him is the creepy homeless guy who routinely attacks him. He even makes Brian's desire to adopt an irrelevance, he is so passive. Although we infer that Brian wants to be a young parent and have his kid avoid the childhood teasing he endured for having an older mum and dad, the true reason remains oblique and fundamentally, we don't care. We marvel at the idiosyncrasies of each character, the just-so attire they wear and the funky places they live, but that's where our interest stops. The script contains too much 'aren't we interesting' wryness and characters who go nowhere and though there are many pretty set pieces, they feel self-conscious and superfluous. A touching finale doesn't make up for the film's weaknesses. To be short, the ends do not justify the means. This is director Matt Aselton's debut so I feel shitty scorning his efforts, but I suggest he stop trying to emulate Wes Anderson and find his own true voice. Then the scenes which are most affecting here might serve to permeate the entirety of his next movie.

Antichrist

2009-11-30T21:10:40+00:00

Last night I watched Antichrist, director Lars von Trier's latest offering, apparently written after a prolonged period of depression during which he wasn't sure whether he would ever write again.

What can I say? Well people, this is definitely not a popcorn movie. Written and directed by von Trier, the film stars Willem Defoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg ('He' and 'She') as a couple grieving the death of their young son who head to a cabin in the woods (an ironically named Eden) to try and come to terms with their loss. What follows is one of the most barbaric, psychologically draining movies I've ever seen. The pair exact more and more torture upon on each other as the film goes on, seeing me gasp, grimace and wince as I took it all in. All credit to Defoe and Gainsbourg - I can't imagine that this movie was at all fun to make and though there were many times I found myself asking just what the purpose of Antichrist was, the pair (who are the soul players in this brooding and bleak project) still manage to exact a modicum of emotion for their characters from the viewer amidst all the despair, pain, and, yes, genital mutilation. Ouch. To paraphrase The Big Lebowski's Walter, you are entering a world of pain.

Somehow the movie never feels like it's been made just for shock value in spite of its litany of misery and sexual violence, but what exactly it's point is escapes me. At times the action seems to symbolically reflect the couples' psychological grief made physical, at others the power of the cinematography seems to testify to the aesthetic genius of the director, but what prevailed above all this was the film's disturbing level of misogyny. Accusations of women-bashing have been levelled at von Trier for some time, and I'm no expert in his work so I don't want to get bogged down in a tirade of feminist ranting at him, but one thing's for sure his female protagonist is one sandwich short of a picnic. She's loopy - I'm talking stark, raving bonkers. She screws her husband to the floor by his leg after bashing in his balls, for heaven's sake! However, whilst she is all crazy female emotion unleashed (and it is intimated she could have stopped her son falling to his death), her husband is pure rationality - which hardly seems any more effectual in dealing with his own grief and care for her. So the movie makes you go round in circles wondering just whether von Trier is a misogynist, or indeed whether the husband's treatment of his wife is some sado-masochistic, post-modern and ironic (hell yeah, why not all three?!) reflection of von Trier's treatment of his actresses - a response to critics maybe - or (deep breath) whether it reflects a fundamental darkness in all humankind.

Aaargh! I'm blown if I know. This is the kind of movie which could see me indulging my pretentious side to the max, with all manner of interpretations ... and after all that, I still don't think I'd be able to make head nor tale of the film. What I can say though, is that in spite of this, Antichrist looks incredible and features some horrifyingly beautiful tableaus and brave performances from its leads. A gruelling watch which made me feel utterly bilious, I can't say I'd want to see it again, but would advise those of you with strong stomachs and open minds to try.

Blue Roses

2009-11-29T16:01:32+00:00

I recently made the pleasant discovery of Laura Groves, AKA Blue Roses,a Yorkshire born folk singer who cites one of her influences as Du Maurier. What's not to like? Blue Roses sound like a cross between Alessi's Ark and Emmy the Great, and although there's a risk of music lovers being saturated by the plethora of young female folk singers springing up seemingly everywhere, when they're producing material as pretty as Ms Groves it's hard to be churlish about it.

Blue roses are, amongst other things, symbolic of love at first sight and I suspect this has been the case with whoever encounters the majesty of Laura Groves' voice.

Beck & Charlotte Gainsbourg - Heaven Can Wait

2009-11-28T10:50:38+00:00

Or why music videos were invented. Granted, this is a fairly average track. But what a video.

The Men Who Stare at Goats

2009-11-22T22:28:07+00:00

Based upon the 2004 book of the same title by Jon Ronson, The Men Who Stare at Goats boasts an impressive cast. Ewan Mcgregor plays Bob Wilton, a reporter investigating the US army's adoption of new age concepts and exploration of the paranormal, following the development of these activities post-Vietnam and in post-war Iraq. George Clooney, Jeff Bridges and Kevin Spacey also star as army officers involved in these techniques, in what seems to be an absurdist satire on war.

We are told at the beginning that more of the movie is true than we would believe - including the concept that one can kill a goat through the forces of their mind alone - and given the context within which this is set, I'm inclined to believe this statement. The film is set up as a Coen brothers style farce, aided by its distinctive advertising and presence of a crazed but charismatic George Clooney, and is really very funny. However, though it had most of the cinema laughing it wasn't as surreal as it purports to be and is, I think, coasting on the talents of its stars for the latter half of the movie. In addition to a goofy Clooney, we have Bridges as a stoned hippy officer teaching troops to smell flowers and dance, Spacey in his usual prissy, uptight and evil mode, and McGregor as a very empathetic and likeable straight guy. Clooney and McGregor have great chemistry and share some particularly amusing slapstick moments, and are surely the main reason why this film is showing so widely. Because, the charm of the leads aside, this is an odd film. Director Grant Heslov fails to scale the heights of the Coen brothers, whom he's clearly trying to ape, and at a neat hour and a half the movie seemed much longer, as the script slackens towards the end. The anti-war premise also seemed to get a bit lost, as we get pulled into various surreal yet half-arsed cul de sacs, but for all these flaws The Men Who Stare at Goats is still an entertaining movie which yet again allows George Clooney to showcase his excellent comedic timing. Oh - and there is some hilarious (if obvious) physical comedy.

I wouldn't urge people to see this at a Multiplex - or even their local indie - but it's definitely one to rent. Quirky, messy, but well intentioned and engaging enough.

Har Mar Superstar - Dark Touches

2009-11-21T10:02:17+00:00

Can you believe it's been a long five years since our old friend Har Mar released his last album? No, me neither. I've played The Handler over and over without getting bored and in the process, turned other people onto the lure of the rotund and horny one.

I was really excited about Mr Superstar's latest output, though admittedly worried I'd set the stakes too high. Could he improve on the likes of 'Back The Camel Up' and 'Body Request'? YES, YES, YES (think Meg Ryan in that cafe scene)! Dark Touches brings us yet more sticky beats and retro disco/funk, all smothered in a big helping of the usual lyrical randiness and silky smooth vocals we've come to expect from the most profane man in pop.

With his aping of Ron 'Porn Star' Jeremy, it would be easy to dismiss Har Mar Superstar as a novelty act - another Mike Flowers type who best belongs on The Mighty Boosh line up - if it weren't for his way of creating gloriously undiluted pop. From the Jackson 5 style 'Dope, Man' to the tongue in cheek 'Gangsters Want to Cuddle Me', each song demands to be danced to. 'Creative Juices' wouldn't be out of place on a Justin Timberlake album - indeed, I recently posted something on Facebook telling all my 'Friends' (whatever that means) that perfect equilibrium would be restored to the world were Har Mar to write for Mr JT. I also hear that a certain Ms Spears turned down 'Tallboy'. Silly girl. Clearly not in her right mind ... Still, Britney's loss is Mr Superstar's gain, as the video for said song features a bevy of beauties including Eva Mendes. Check it out below, and I bet you won't be able to resist ...

Julie & Julia

2009-11-19T11:36:49+00:00

It's taken a while for me to get around to this one. I'm sure by now you all know that Julie & Julia entwines the story of how American cookery legend Julia Child discovered the joys of the kitchen with blogger Julie Powell's challenge to herself to cook all the recipes in Child's first book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, over the course of a year.

Meryl Streep and Amy Adams, who we last saw together in the austere Doubt, play Julia and Julie respectively. They don't share any screen time but the challenges and triumphs of their characters are woven together in such a way that we never get bored with either story - even if I did find Streep's imitation of Child's famously warbly voice deeply irritating. This aside, I found the movie very charming and feelgood, in the way that all Nora Ephron's projects are. Granted this is no classic, but it does boast performances from two of cinema's finest actresses. Streep is predictably impressive as the indomitable Child, conveying the force of her personality and spirit but also her vulnerability. The movie alludes to her sadness at her childlessness, and need to find fulfilment as she travels across Europe with her US diplomat husband Paul (played by Stanley Tucci, who it's always a pleasure to see). Streep channels the pleasure Child took in her craft whilst still demonstrating the irreverence of the amateur which won Child so many fans, and I'm sure American audiences enjoyed her performance even more than I did, growing up with Child as they did. Adams got the less engaging character in my view. Though I empathised with Julie and felt the film's portrayal of her need for fulfilment was successful in mirroring that of her idol, her character seemed a little too saccharine and downtrodden to be truly credible. When a friend recently told me Julie was actually having an affair during her courdon bleu challenge, I couldn't help wondering why it wasn't featured - it would have made things a little more interesting! Nonetheless, Adams is as likeable as always and yet again proves she's a shapeshifting actress - compare her appearance to that in Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, and you will see what I mean. The lady has range!

Julie & Julia is an unashamed chick flick which should come with the warning that it will make you both very hungry and willing to take on all manner of ridiculous recipes. As light and fluffy as one of Child's meringues, it won't change the world, but it will entertain you.