A Round of Lost Stars - Peter Breck and Whitney Houston

Coming off the losses of Grammy-winning singer Etta James and Soul Train founder and host, Don Cornelius, comes word of the death of two more people who brought me joy and happiness with their work and performances.

I was not a big fan of Whitney Houston's work in movies, but I am a big fan of her music.  Ms. Houston (who was born in 1963) was found dead (at the age of 48) in a room at the Beverly Hills Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, yesterday (Saturday, February 11, 2012).  My favorite Whitney Houston album is My Love is Your Love (1998), her last multi-platinum studio album.  Ms. Houston was set to appear in a remake of the 1976 film, Sparkle, which is currently slated for an August 2012 release.  R.I.P. Whitney.

I've also learned that American actor, Peter Breck, died Monday, February 6, 2012 at the age of 82.  I am a big fan of Breck because of his work in the 1960s ABC Western television series, The Big Valley, playing hot-tempered Nick Barkley, the middle son of Victoria Barkley (played by Barbara Stanwyck).  The handsome, rugged, dark-haired Breck was perfect for the part of Nick, playing a character that is basically the ramrod and de factor boss of the Barkley ranch.  Breck also played "Doc Holliday" on six episodes of the ABC Western television series, Maverick.  Thanks to MeTV, I can watch Breck at least five times a week on The Big Valley, forever young and strapping.  R.I.P. Mr. Breck.

Review: "C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America" is Unforgettable

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 198 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America (2004)
Running time: 90 minutes (1 hour, 30 minutes)
Not rated by the MPAA
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Kevin Willmott
PRODUCER: Rick Cowan
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Matt Jacobson
EDITORS: Sean Blake and David Gramly

COMEDY/DRAMA/HISTORICAL

Starring: Evamarii Johnson, Larry Peterson, Patti Van Slyke, and Rupert Pate

Writer/director Kevin Willmott’s blistering comedy, C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America, is a so-called “mockumenatry” (a mock documentary). Willmott (an assistant professor at the University of Kansas) puts forth a provocative vision in which the South (or the Confederacy or the Confederate States of America) won the Civil War (the War Between the States?), and slavery is still legal and liberals and free blacks have fled to Canada.

In this film within a film, a C.S.A. television station, Channel 6, decides to show the controversial British documentary, C.S.A., a documentary history of the Confederate States of America, which begins with the Civil War and ends in present day C.S.A. In between the documentary, the station broadcasts commercial advertisements for a number of products with racist brand names and logos and/or inherently racist in nature as they are geared towards pacifying slaves (including a prescription drug available from veterinarians, Contrari, which makes troublesome darkies docile). The C.S.A. documentary features archival footage of the capture of the disposed Union President Abraham Lincoln (in black face and on the run with Harriet Tubman), of the C.S.A. conquering Latin America and exporting its own brand of apartheid there, and of a C.S.A. alliance with Adolf Hitler, among other things.

The best-known “mockumentary” is probably This is… Spinal Tap. Christopher Guest, one of Spinal Tap’s co-creators, has also directed a trio of critically acclaimed mockumentaries including the recent Oscar-nominated A Mighty Wind (a fourth is due Fall 2006). Other examples of mockumentaries are CB4 and Fear of a Black Hat. While C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America is in the tradition of the aforementioned films, it more closely resembles two Robert K. Weiss-produced comedies, The Kentucky Fried Movie and Amazon Women on the Moon both in tone and in temperament. The alternative racial history aspect of C.S.A. is very much like some of pseudo-historical sketches from Dave Chappelle’s now-defunct Comedy Central series, “Chappelle’s Show,” like the one in which black Americans received reparations for slavery.

C.S.A. is, in the end, its own beast. Using humor, some of it relentlessly scathing and much of it surprisingly droll, Willmott comments on more than just race (read: skin color), racism, and race relations in the United States with the C.S.A. as an allegorical stand in. Willmott also discusses imperialism, war, greed, nationalist propaganda, crass commercialism, and ethnic and religious bigotry. Many of the racist products featured in the faux commercials are actual racist products from American history including the ones for the fried chicken franchise, Coon Chicken Inn, and the furniture polish, the Gold Dust Twins.

Keeping in mind what George Bernard Shaw said about using comedy to tell truths because it keeps the audience from killing the storyteller (which Willmott quotes at the beginning of this movie), Willmott exposes the ugly truths about bigotry, doing it all with a disarming sense of humor. Some people will automatically be defensive about this film (especially hypersensitive white Southerners), but this is simply an excellent political and social comedy. It stumbles a bit, and its low budget only occasionally hurts the movie. Still, C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America is an exceptional, offbeat film for those with a taste for black, bold and outspoken.

7 of 10
A-

Sunday, September 17, 2006

You can watch C.S.A. on Amazon's PRIME VIDEO.

-------------------

Amazon wants me to inform you that the affiliate link below is a PAID AD, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on the affiliate link below AND buy something(s).

Review: Aniston is Money in "Friends with Money: (Happy B'day, Jennifer Aniston)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 196 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

Friends with Money (2006)
Running time: 88 minutes (1 hour, 28 minutes)
MPAA – R for language, some sexual content, and brief drug use
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Nicole Holofcener
PRODUCER: Anthony Bregman
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Terry Stacey
EDITOR: Robert Frazen

COMEDY/DRAMA

Starring: Jennifer Aniston, Frances McDormand, Joan Cusack, Catherine Keener, Greg Germann, Simon McBurney, Jason Isaacs, Scott Caan, Ty Burrell, and Bob Stephenson

Set in present day Los Angeles, writer/director Nicole Holofcener’s bittersweet movie, Friends with Money follows the lives of four women in their late 30’s and early 40’s. Jane (Frances McDormand) is a financially secure designer of a popular clothing line, but she’s emotionally insecure and a bit shaky mentally. Her husband, Aaron (Simon McBurney), has little tolerance for her antics. Franny (Joan Cusack) is rich, and she and her husband, Matt (Greg Germann), spend lavishly on gifts and give generously to charity. Christine (Catherine Keener) and her husband, David (Jason Isaacs), are a husband and wife screenwriting team whose marriage and creative partnership is on the rocks. Olivia (Jennifer Aniston) is their single friend who is still struggling to find herself, while Jane, Franny, and Christine struggle with the complexities and annoyances of married life.

For many moviegoers, Friends with Money must be a shock to the system, being that it is a well-cast drama with skilled actors portraying adults in real life situations. Holofcener mines the film’s humor from that generous vein we know as human foibles. Not all of the characters are interesting (Franny and Matt are dullsville.), and some of the characters come across as standard oddballs added just to be oddballs (Scott Caan’s Mike, for instance). Overall, the film works, although even at 88 minutes, it tends to meander.

Jennifer Aniston makes this movie. Whenever she’s onscreen, Friends with Money springs to life like a J.V. football player who just learned he’s made the varsity squad. There’s something in Aniston’s performance as Olivia and in Holofcener’s writing for that character that makes both the story appealing and the rest of the characters relevant mainly in the context of Olivia’s struggles. I’m not ready to call her a great actress, but Aniston is pretty darn good. See this flick for her.

7 of 10
B+

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

-------------

 

Review: "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace" Retains Its Innocence"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 31 (of 2002) by Leroy Douresseaux

Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999)
Running time: 136 minutes (2 hours, 16 minutes)
MPAA – PG for sci-fi action/violence
WRITER/DIRECTOR: George Lucas
PRODUCER: Rick McCallum
CINEMATOGRAPHER: David Tattersall (D.o.P.)
EDITORS: Ben Burtt and Paul Martin Smith
COMPOSER: John Williams
Academy Award nominee

SCI-FI/FANTASY/ACTION/ADVENTURE with elements of a thriller

Starring: Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Jake Lloyd, Pernilla August, (voice) Frank Oz, Ian McDiarmid, Oliver Ford Davies, Hugh Quarshie, (voice) Ahmed Best, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Terrence Stamp, Brian Blessed, Andrew Secombe, Ray Park, (voice) Lewis Macleod, Steven Spiers, Silas Carson, Ralph Brown, and Samuel L. Jackson

The 1999 film, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, is the fourth release in the Star Wars film franchise. It is also the first film in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, a series of three movies in which the stories take place before the events depicted in the original Star Wars trilogy: Star Wars (1977), The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and Return of the Jedi (1983). The Phantom Menace has been recently re-released as a 3D feature.

Back in 1999, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace was highly-anticipated release, and although it was a tremendous success at the box office, the movie received mixed reviews from professional film critics and reviewers. The Phantom Menace received criticism from Star Wars fandom, some of it intense. However, I am a fan of The Phantom Menace, and it is my favorite of the three prequel films. My feelings about it are similar to a statement that Ewan McGregor, who starred in the film, made, and that is that The Phantom Menace is just a little fairy tale about a group of people running from one side of the galaxy to the other, having adventures. And I like going along with them on these adventures.

Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) are two Jedi Knights who must help Queen Padme Amidala (Natalie Portman) save her planet Naboo from the Trade Federation, which is determined to take it. Jar Jar Binks (Ahmed Best) is a Naboo outcast who joins the Jedi on their quest. After the group escapes from a Trade Federation-controlled Naboo, they land on the planet Tatooine, where they meet Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd), a boy with the potential to be a powerful Jedi. Dark forces, however, hunt them in the guise of Darth Maul (Ray Park), an apprentice of the Sith, the Jedi’s ancient enemies.

Directed by George Lucas, The Phantom Menace is the first of three prequels to the original Star Wars movies (Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi). Lucas doesn’t give his cast the room to stretch their characters, and his dialogue is mostly wooden and awkward. It is often painfully obvious in how unpolished both the acting and the writing is. Neeson has the most room to roam, but McGregor’s talent is sadly wasted. The driest performance has to be that of Lloyd as the young Anakin Skywalker, he his moments. Jar Jar Binks is a computer-generated character, and while Best does excellent work in creating a unique voice for the character, Jar Jar is an annoying character.

Other than that, TPM is a blast. In a way, it is like a fairy tale in which the cast runs from one hot spot to another, barely staying ahead of the bad guys. In the pod race sequence that occurs in the middle of the film, one can see Lucas’s ability to craft scenes of breath taking intensity that match the best car chases and chase scenes with the flair of the movie serials of Hollywood’s bygone era. Maul’s attack on Qui-Gon and, later, the final battle between the two Jedi and the Sith apprentice are exciting and beautifully staged. In fact, the action sequences are so good that they make up for TPM’s duller moments.

Although it doesn’t recall the excitement of Star Wars or have the dramatic impact of The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace is fun. It doesn’t try to be quality filmmaking so much as it dares to be quality, lightweight entertainment. And at that, it is very good.

7 of 10
A-

NOTES:
2000 Academy Awards: 3 nominations: “Best Effects, Sound Effects Editing” (Ben Burtt and Tom Bellfort), “Best Effects, Visual Effects” (John Knoll, Dennis Muren, Scott Squires, and Rob Coleman), and “Best Sound” (Gary Rydstrom, Tom Johnson, Shawn Murphy, and John Midgley)

2000 BAFTA Awards: 2 nominations: “Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects” (John Knoll, Dennis Muren, Scott Squires, and Rob Coleman) and “Best Sound” (Ben Burtt, Tom Bellfort, John Midgley, Gary Rydstrom, Tom Johnson, and Shawn Murphy)

2000 Razzie Awards: 1 win: “Worst Supporting Actor” (Ahmed Best, the voice of Jar-Jar Binks); 6 nominations: “Worst Picture” (20th Century-Fox), “Worst Director” (George Lucas), “Worst Screen Couple” (Jake Lloyd and Natalie Portman), “Worst Screenplay” (George Lucas), “Worst Supporting Actor” (Jake Lloyd), and “Worst Supporting Actress” (Sofia Coppola)

--------------------

9th Annual Irish Film and Television Awards Takes Place Feb. 11th

IRISH FILM & TELEVISION AWARDS - ALL EYES ON THE EMERALD ISLE - 11th February 2012

Michael Fassbender, Brendan Gleeson, Chris O’Dowd, Dana Delany, AJ Buckley, Armand Assante, Stephen Rea, Brenda Fricker, Maria Doyle Kennedy and more at the Irish Film & Television Awards

(Dublin Ireland) – February 10, 2012: Ireland’s finest screen creative talent descend this weekend on Dublin, Saturday 11th of February 2012, for the 9th Annual Irish Film & Television Awards celebrations, taking place at the spectacular Convention Centre Dublin (CCD).

The President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins leads the celebrations, showcasing Ireland’s screen talent with IFTA Awards presented in categories across film and television. IFTA 2012 will see Ireland’s directors, writers, actors, craftspeople and television programme makers in attendance.

Guests scheduled to attend include Brendan Gleeson (The Guard), Michael Fassbender (Shame), Chris O’Dowd (Bridesmaids), Brenda Fricker (Albert Nobbs), Brían F. O'Byrne (Mildred Pierce, Prime Suspect), Stephen Rea (Underworld Awakening), Ruth Negga (Shirley, Misfits), Maria Doyle Kennedy (The Tudors, Albert Nobbs), Liam Cunningham (The Guard), Emmett J. Scanlan (Charlie Casanova), Amy Huberman (Threesome, Stella Days), Brendan O’Carroll (Mrs Brown’s Boys), Antonia Campbell Hughes (Lead Balloon), Colin Morgan (Merlin), Martin McCann (The Pacific), Charlene McKenna (RAW), Olivia Tracey (Agnes Browne), Allen Leech (Downton Abbey), Pat Shortt (Garage), Marcella Plunkett (Stella Days), Bronagh Gallagher (Albert Nobbs).

Veteran Irish actress Fionnula Flanagan (Some Mother’s Son, The Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood, LOST) is to receive Lifetime Achievement Award from the Irish Academy on the night and international guests presenting top Awards include Dana Delany (Desperate Housewives), Armand Assante (Gotti) and AJ Buckley (CSI NY).

Hosted by Simon Delaney (The Good Wife) the Irish Film & Television Awards show will broadcast primetime on Irish television RTÉ One at 9.40pm GMT.

Speaking ahead of the 9th Annual Irish Film & Television Awards this weekend, IFTA Chief Executive Áine Moriarty said: “Despite economic setbacks, Ireland can be proud of its creative talent who continue to deliver world class production, entertaining audiences both at home and around the world. The 9th Annual Irish Film & Television Awards promises to be a terrific evening of entertainment for the viewers at home, and a very special night of celebration for the 2012 nominees and Ireland’s film and television industry.”

New Release Dates for Three Upcoming Paramont Movies

Updated release date information is now available for the following Paramount films below:

A THOUSAND WORDS will now open on Friday, March 9, 2012 (wide).

JEFF, WHO LIVES AT HOME will open on Friday, March 16, 2012 (*limited*).

TITANIC in 3D will now open on Wednesday, April 4, 2012 (wide).

Review: "Sideways" is a Bit Too Pleased with Itself

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 25 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux

Sideways (2004)
Running time: 123 minutes (2 hours, 3 minutes)
MPAA – R for language, some strong sexual content, and nudity
DIRECTOR: Alexander Payne
WRITERS: Jim Taylor and Alexander Payne (from the novel by Rex Pickett)
PRODUCER: Michael London
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Phedon Papamichael
EDITOR: Kevin Tent
Academy Award winner

COMEDY/DRAMA with elements of romance

Starring: Paul Giamatti, Thomas Haden Church, Virginia Madsen, Sandra Oh, Marylouise Burke, Jessica Hecht, Missy Doty, M.C. Gainey, Alysia Reiner, Shake Tukhmanyan, and Duke Moosekian

Miles Faymond (Paul Giamatti), a divorced middle school teacher and struggling/failed novelist, takes his friend Jack (Thomas Haden Church), who is to be married the following weekend, on a wine tasting tour of California. Both men are reaching middle age and feel they have nothing but disappointments to show for their life, especially Miles, who is a mean drunk and takes at least two prescription anti-depressants.

Miles has taken this trip several times, and he’s looking forward to entertaining his friend before his altar-bound day. Jack, however, wants to get laid before he gets married. In that fashion, he seduces (or is seduced) Stephanie (Sandra Oh), a bartender at a winery and Jack encourages Miles to make a move on Maya (Virginia Madsen), a waitress Miles actually knows from previous trips. The results of these two flings are wildly different for each man.

Sideways is the critical darling of 2004, with some critics apparently praising it as the film of their generation. It’s entertaining and has some wonderfully poignant and romantic moments, but road trips and traveling scenes in films are sometimes viewed as a sign that the storyteller is killing time before getting to the heart of the story, except there isn’t much heart to this story. Director Alexander Payne has certainly made a good film, but ain’t much meat on the bone. Sideways may be the glossy, short-on-substance version of an art movie. Miles, the lead character, is not having an existential crisis; he’s just joyless and often boring, while Jack is a colorless cad. I found myself glad that Jack was (only) a supporting player and wanting him to be on screen as little as possible, though his colorfully bawdy conversations do liven the film.

None of the performances stand out, especially Virginia Madsen’s, which has earned her an Oscar nomination. She plays the character so downtrodden that it’s almost difficult to accept that the girl does have college ambitions. Church’s performance, which also earned him a Oscar nod, is okay, but not worth wasting a lot of words on. Some feel Paul Giamatti was robbed as he didn’t get an Oscar nomination, but he basically played a better-dressed version of his Harvey Pekar character from American Splendor. I do give him credit for making a bore endearing, but Giamatti has a nice guy quality. I blame the character problems on the writing, that it needs Giamatti to make Miles intriguing even when the material is a little light and not well done. There are moments in Sideways when Giamatti lifts this film on his shoulders and makes the story compelling, even when his character is just being annoying. Giamatti isn’t the tall, dark, and handsome type, but he has something that works on the big screen. Maybe, that alone is enough of a reason for Oscar to come calling… eventually.

7 of 10
B+

NOTES:
2005 Academy Awards: 1 win: “Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay” (Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor); 4 nominations: “Best Motion Picture of the Year” (Michael London), “Best Achievement in Directing” (Alexander Payne), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role” (Thomas Haden Church) and “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role” (Virginia Madsen)

2005 BAFTA Awards: 1 win: “Best Screenplay – Adapted” (Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor)

2005 Golden Globes: 2 wins: “Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy” and “Best Screenplay - Motion Picture” (Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor); 5 nominations: “Best Director - Motion Picture” (Alexander Payne), “Best Original Score - Motion Picture” (Rolfe Kent), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy” (Paul Giamatti), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Thomas Haden Church), and “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Virginia Madsen)

-------------------