ROBERT ALTMAN-Beloved Maverick

The death of famed director Robert Altman at age 81 is the loss of a true auteur of filmmaking whose prowess was undiminished right to the end.

A late bloomer who had done considerable television work in its golden era (his TV work was formidable in its own right-Combat, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Bonanza, Peter Gunn), Altman had minor success in feature films in the sixties until he transformed M*A*S*H into a critical and popular success which would launch him throughout the seventies as a visionary artist who told stories in a candid, realistic manner. Of course, his style has been emulated by newer directors like Paul Thomas Anderson (Magnolia) and Paul Haggis (Crash) who have adopted aspects of Altman’s storyline structure of often seemingly unrelated characters in a vast tapestry of contemporary America that gradually coalesce into a unifying theme. Witness the recent Babel, which bears a striking similarity to the Altman way.

If you wanted ‘precise to the page’ scripted dialogue, then you wouldn’t look to an Altman film. He was notorious for improvising scenes and lines, and his fierce independence and respect for actors attracted the biggest and best of stars. How else could he get Bruce Willis and Julia Roberts do what amounted to superb cameos in The Player! It was fun to watch him match different actors together just to see how they would respond. One minute there was Lily Tomlin paired with Keith Carradine in Nashville and both get Oscar nominations, and next there was Lindsay Lohan paired with Meryl Streep in A Prairie Home Companion.

I had the good fortune of meeting Altman while I was working with the student union film committee at the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland. He was featured to speak to the students at a showing of some of his films, and several of us had lunch at a nearby restaurant. Altman was always patient and informative in his responses to questions from the committee. What you saw on TV was what you got; he was just like that in real life. When asked what he thought of the hit television show M*A*S*H based on his movie, he wasn’t particularly fond of it since it sanitized and distorted the truth about what his film was trying to depict. When asked which of his films was his favorite, he answered that it was difficult to choose in the same way that his films were like his children, all special and beloved. I asked him what he had thought of Sam Peckinpah, another contemporary director, and his answer was “sick man…very sick….”, which was often an opinion shared by many. Altman’s individuality was evident when the waitress took our orders, and all of us went for the all-you-can-eat buffet. When it came time for Mr. Altman to order, he instead ordered a sandwich. Go figure.

A case could be made that as he got older, he became a better filmmaker. Sure, there were misfires like Popeye or the quirky Brewster McCloud, but you had to give him credit for being willing to take chances. Every few years or so, when you thought his career was foundering, he would return with The Player or Gosford Park and silence the critics and scholars. His is a body of work (Nashville, McCabe and Mrs. Miller, 3 Women, Short Cuts) that will be admired and imitated for a long time.

STRANGER THAN FICTION –Life as Narrative

Marc Forster is making a name for himself with such major films as Monsters Ball and Finding Neverland. In Stranger Than Fiction, he takes a plot that could have been suggested by Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation) and creates a world that suggests fantasy yet is grounded in what we call reality. It is an inventive plot made convincing by sensitive direction and fine performances by its stars, Will Ferrell and Maggie Gyllenhaal.

IRS civil servant Harold Crick (Ferrell) leads a regimented, mundane existence, which consists of an orderly routine guided by his punctual wristwatch. His solitary life becomes upset by the presence of a female voice that seems to be narrating his every move. His daily rituals are altered and, when he audits a baker, a free spirited activist named Ana Pascal (Gyllenhaal), he meets stiff resistance and hostility. Compelled to find the answers to the mysterious voice, he first consults the company shrink (Tom Hulce in a welcome, yet short performance), a therapist (Linda Hunt in too brief a role), and finally a literary professor, Dr. Jules Hilbert (Dustin Hoffman in bravura support). It is with Dr. Hilbert that Harold finds hope and a methodology to solve the puzzle of the narrative voice.

At the same time, famed author, Kay Eiffel, is trying to finish her latest novel about a taxman who is hearing voices. When she struggles to find a suitable end for her character (all her principal characters are killed off in her books), a publisher’s assistant arrives in the name of Penny Escher (Queen Latifah wasted in a pedestrian part). Harold visits Ana for a followup audit and becomes smitten and attracted by her perky charm. As he audits her maze of disorganized tax documents, Ana begins to feel bad for the poor soul and gives him a sort of peace offering of homemade cookies, and thus their relationship grows. His visits with Dr. Hilbert begin to narrow the possible sources of his affliction until one day he stumbles on the answer and in doing so, he realizes that his life is predestined. His life out of kilter, Harold begins to break out of his quiet shell and experience life’s interesting aspects. Kay’s mental block soon gives way and when she finishes her novel and is ready to type the manuscript, Harold tracks her down using some creative ingenuity. She too has realized some incredible connection between her story and his real life. When Dr. Hilbert reads the final manuscript, his conclusions are a stunner to Harold. How Harold and Kay respond to this is what winds the film to a tense conclusion.

The dialogue is funny at times and always interesting. There are traces of other films like Groundhog Day, Field of Dreams or an episode of The X Files that will come to mind. The movie touches on the concepts of fate and destiny without being too obvious-perhaps it should have been more obvious come to think of it. Do we control our lives or are we part of some other plan or manuscript (like The Matrix)? The concept of ‘cause and effect’ and of randomness figures heavily in the overall theme of the film.

Harold is a sort of distant cousin to Forrest Gump complete with an innocent perspective on life. His character works because his persona changes throughout the film and when he faces his fears and desires head on, his life begins to move forward in ways he never imagined. He is starting to live life. And when he finds out his fate, he makes a big decision that brings his character full circle.

Harold’s watch becomes a kind of supporting character, as it serves as a catalyst for him and Ana to bond, but it is used too sparingly at times. There is a slight feeling that the filmmakers did not have enough confidence in the fantasy part to match the reality which is well done. Too bad, as the film steadily progresses in its story and etches some interesting characters. It also gets a bit confusing as to why a couple of characters pop in and out briefly, and you know it’s for some reason that becomes more evident by the climax.

The movie is at its best when Harold warms up to Ana, and the two begin a courtship that is affecting and genuine. In this, Gyllenhaal and Ferrell shine. Will Ferrell has always been a dependable comic from his Saturday Night Live years, but here, he successfully portrays a shy, passive man complete with blank expressions and awkward body language. Hoffman has his most significant role in years since his brief but memorable turn in Foster’s previous Finding Neverland. And Gyllenhaal proves adept as a romantic lead.

Forster is becoming a modern day teller of fables. In Stranger Than Fiction he spins a simple tale (written by Zach Helm) of love, life, and fate with a moral that is redemptive and refreshing. Not everyone will connect with this film; I suspect that the romantics out there will.

*** of **** stars

BABEL’s Microcosm of the World

With a plot structure not unlike his previous Amores Perros or 21 Grams, director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu and writer Guillermo Arriaga have created Babel, the final act of a trilogy about the human condition. With seemingly unrelated characters and storylines that gradually merge, it is as ambitious as a narrative can get, and the filmmakers pull it off with great aplomb.

Four parallel stories take place within days if not hours of each other. In Morocco, the father of a goat herding family buys a rifle from a neighbor. Set to guard the flock from predators, his two sons decide to do some target practice. As a tour bus happens by, a single shot rings out, and a careless act will create havoc and distress for innocent victims and have severe repercussions for others.

In the bus, an American couple, Richard (Brad Pitt) and Susan (Cate Blanchett), are having a marital crisis when all of a sudden their world is turned upside down. The tour bus stops at a remote village as the passengers begin to stir and fear for their own safety. As the Moroccan police investigate the incident, Richard is desperate to save the life of his wife amid primitive surroundings in a foreign land.

The couple’s two children in California are under the care of their nanny, Amelia (Adriana Barraza), who is anxious to go to her son’s impending wedding. After failing to find suitable caregivers to watch over the children, she takes them with her to Mexico. Escorted by her volatile nephew Santiago (Gael Garcia Bernal), they drive to a festive wedding ceremony and reception. Afterwards, they are stopped at a border checkpoint where events turn nightmarish.

In Japan, a lonely teenaged girl, Chieko (Rinko Kikuchi) who is deaf, hangs with her other deaf friends and dreams of flirting and connecting with a male even if it means compromising her dignity. Her father, Yasujiro (Koji Yakusho) is inadequate as a parent since his wife died under obscure circumstances. As detectives want to question Yasujiro, Cheiko is smitten by a younger detective and unleashes a torrent of passion and secrets.

The final moments of the film are memorable as each storyline becomes clearer and potent in their revelations and truths. Time slips back and forth and certain events catch up to the others (Christopher Nolan’s Momento comes to mind). The threads that connect the different stories are not as obvious as one might expect and when they do become apparent, they hold emotional meaning. What is so remarkable is how a seemingly innocent prank sets off a chain reaction of angst and responsibility.

The film does not sermonize but rather it presents the events as they happen albeit in an incongruent time frame. You experience life and its effects on other events and people. The director and writer try to depict people like you or me with the same needs or longings. With a setting that reaches the far-flung corners (Japan, Mexico or Morocco) of the world, Inarritu has forced his audience to go with him and face a myriad of characters that speak English, Japanese, Spanish, Arabic, Berber, or French! Yet when we get to know these disparate individuals and their situations, we begin to empathize and care for them despite their faults or shortcomings. Although the title has biblical references with its different languages, these stories share common emotional bonds that transcend mere dialects. This is a film that could easily play anywhere in the world and still be affecting.

The international cast melds amateurs with seasoned veterans and the honest performances are completely captivating and affecting. I dare anyone to pick out the professional actors from the non professionals (save Pitt and Blanchett). This use of unknowns adds to the believability of the whole storyline. (It is ironic that Michael Pena plays a border policeman; he was featured in last year’s similarly structured Crash-a coincidence perhaps?)

There are painful, agonizing moments where human suffering is brought with unflinching, explicit realism to an almost unbearable level. This film presents characters with all their strengths and weaknesses and it does so unsparingly. Sometimes the punishment or consequences unfairly outweigh the crime or the mistake. The brothers who watch over their father’s goats must face their own culpability and ugly family secrets that threaten to destroy their way of life. There are Richard and Susan who are at the center or eye of a growing hurricane of life’s cruel randomness and must depend on strangers for survival. A jaunt across a Mexican border turns ugly.

Things are not wrapped up nicely, and several plot threads are left hanging and open-ended on purpose. The marital problems of Richard and Susan are never clearly delineated and their relationship gets short shrift even as they go through a harrowing event. The music is somber and spare. The imagery is powerful despite the handheld documentary feel. The scenes of Japanese nightlife are vivid and disturbing in their portrayal of urban youth.

Babel is about how families are torn apart and come together. It is also about children. It could be your children or mine or the world’s children. There are some significant issues (racial tension, illegal immigrants, adolescent yearnings, perceptions of a foreign country, and the arrogance of the ‘ugly American’) the filmmakers touch upon and you wish they had gone even farther with the material, but you are glad they went as far as they did. Babel is a film that this reviewer has no desire to sit through again, but having gone through it once, it is a unique, remarkable experience. This is an imperfect, significant film and destined for major Oscar nominations.

*** ½ out of **** stars

THE DEPARTED - Scorsese’s Gangs of Boston

No one has depicted the modern underworld better than film maestro Martin Scorsese who has melded cinematic acumen with his Italian-Catholic upbringing to form a trilogy of unparalleled morality plays: Mean Streets, Goodfellas, and Casino. The trilogy has become a quartet by default as the director tackles the Asian cult classic, Infernal Affairs, and has fashioned The Departed, a film so good up until its stunning conclusion, it almost can’t possibly live up to its steadily built, character driven narrative.

Set in Boston, mobster Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson) rises from small time hood to major crime boss. He befriends and mentors a boy, Colin Sullivan, who, as a grown man (Matt Damon) has studied his way to the State Police academy. Simultaneously, another young man, Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio), is about to graduate as a policeman. A task force is formed to build a case against Costello. Led by Captain Queenan (Martin Sheen) and Sergeant Dignam (Mark Wahlberg), Sullivan and Costigan are recruited for the team separately and unbeknownst to each other. Sullivan takes advantage of his status by tipping off Costello and keeping the kingpin one step ahead of the law. Costigan infiltrates Costello’s crew while Sullivan ironically leads an internal investigation into probable traitors/informants in the police department. Soon, Costello and Sullivan realize that there is a ‘mole’ in their own ranks too, but who can it be? It becomes a perverse game of cat and mouse as the policemen try to expose each other. Furthermore, Sullivan begins dating Madolyn (Vera Farmiga), a police shrink who also counsels and then forms a bond with Costigan. Realizing that he is about to be discovered, Costigan wants to be extracted by Queenan who senses that the situation is desperate. As the task force closes on Costello, Sullivan zeros in on Costigan’s identity by tailing Queenan, and thus good and evil are set on a collision course with startling, tragic finality.

Here we have a dichotomy or duality of two men, Sullivan and Costigan, both intelligent, well read, and streetwise, who happen to be on opposing sides and for a majority of the story, unaware of each other’s identity. Costigan is the noble undercover cop whose life is in ever increasing peril and Sullivan is the hotshot policeman who will do anything to protect Costello. Then there are the surrogate fathers as Nicholson’s Costello mentors Sullivan while Sheen’s Captain Queenan shepherds Costigan. It is amusing to see how Costello sort of adopts Costigan and Queenan is the elder to Sullivan at the police station. It is a parallel family nucleus turned inside out.

The acting is simply put-great. Jack Nicholson convincingly portrays a powerful mob boss with utter arrogance and ruthlessness. His dialogue is chilling and at times outrageously funny. Damon, in his old stomping grounds, sports a New England accent and does a very credible job as the heavy. DiCaprio demonstrates an ever-growing maturity in his roles; his recent partnership with Scorsese is proving fruitful (Gangs of New York, The Aviator). You have to hand it to Scorsese as one of the few directors who can attract the best actors who are dying to work with him. How else could such lead actors as Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin (who is a riot as a profanity-laced FBI boss), and Mark Wahlberg accept what are essentially supporting roles!

The film does miss on a couple points. It would have meant more if the relationship of Madolyn and Sullivan had been explored with more depth, and the emergence of Costigan in this unlikely triangle would have had more poignancy. Likewise, at the end, those relationships are left unclear and never fully explored as much as we want after we get so involved in these characters good or bad as they might be. The film is a little long but never uninteresting, and when it reaches its astonishing ending, it is sudden and jarring in unexpected ways that reach Shakespearean proportions.

Scorsese is still very much in command of his medium, as he will throw in a cinematic device like an iris-in shot or freeze a frame here or there. (Editor Thelma Schoonmaker, his long time collaborator, is in fine form juggling a dozen characters and maintaining the tension at a very high level for a long time, no easy feat.) Though Scorsese’s early Mean Streets (1973) was a fictional tale of low level hoods, it was also semi-autobiographical in its depiction of the people he knew. Goodfellas (1990) and Casino (1995) took a semi-documentary approach that held a fascination of real life events amid a dramatic storyline. In terms of structure, The Departed, while similar in spirit and energy to his previous crime dramas, shows Scorsese fabricating essentially a purely fictitious story, and as always, he has a knack for depicting the inner workings of organized crime with realistic bravado.

There are echoes of the films, The Corruptor (featuring Wahlberg), Donnie Brasco and Reservoir Dogs (also a Hong Kong inspired plot) with their questions of loyalty and betrayal. While earlier police corruption stories were told primarily from the police/protagonist’s point of view like Serpico or the great Prince of the City, The Departed takes an equal time approach with its protagonists and antagonists.

The movie contains raw violence including a brief but action packed climax. The profanity is excessive but realistic, and at times there are amusing cussing matches between the various factions. It’s hard to wrap your arms around The Departed because there’s just so much to savor and admire while also wishing that the radical change in tone at the end weren’t so jarring to the rhythm of the plot. It’s basically a film about rats, and you know what happens to rats.

***1/2 of **** stars (almost as good as Goodfellas)

FIRST MID ATLANTIC NOSTALGIA CONVENTION SERVES UP IRWIN ALLEN ALUMNI

Saturday September 16, 2006
The first Mid Atlantic Nostalgia Convention took place this past weekend in Aberdeen, MD. As usual, this event featured the usual dealer tables filled with books, comics, posters and stills from movies and tv shows past. As a bonus, there were several recognizable celebrities including Lana Wood (Natalie's sister and memorable as Plenty in Diamonds Are Forever), Marta Kristen (Judy in Lost in Space), and David Hedison (Capt. Lee Crane from tv's Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea). It was the latter who drew my attention having spent a childhood filled with imaginative adventure and science fiction, and what better than the submarine Seaview (get the screenname connection?) and its weekly adventures before Star Trek became the intellectual landmark in scifi tv. My family would have dinners out on many a Sunday and we would rush back home (before VCRs) in time to turn on the tv and see the opening tag for Voyage at 7pm EST. For its time, the show was impressive technically with its heavy special effects and in its early years, complex storylines (often courtesy of William Read Woodfield and Allan Balter who would then propell tv's Mission Impossible to glory). Although the later seasons would devolve into the monster of the week (as most Irwin Allen shows did), the show was an action filled good time. It is not a coincidence that Steven Spielberg remade the show as Seaquest DSV in the early 1990's.


During an hour long question and answer session, Hedison was quite animated, humorous, and very candid about his love for his craft of acting and his appreciation of his profession and the mentors he had known including the Playhouse where he studied with Sydney Pollack, Joanne Woodward, and Steve McQueen. Hedison related a story that during classes, McQueen told him that the two would be stars one day, and sure enough, a few years later, Haedison recalled seeing a movie marquee featuring Steve McQueen in The Blob and David Hedison as The Fly. And yes, Hedison says he gets asked all the time if he was under the fly mask (he was). And yes, he did most of his own stunts in Voyage which was crazy to attempt. And he only did Voyage at the advice of friend, Roger Moore and because of the casting of Richard Baseheart as Admiral Nelson. Later, Hedison would have the distinction of being the only actor to play CIA operative Felix Leiter twice in the long running James Bond series (Live and Let Die and License To Kill). What a thrill it was to finally meet Captain Crane in person and share great memories. Yes, for a moment I became a groupie.

Horror Weekend Thrives Despite Terrorism

(George Romero and fan, Dee Wallace Stone, Priscilla Barnes)

A good time was had by fans of the macabre at the annual Horrorfind Convention at Hunt Valley Marriott Hotel this past weekend. Numerous vendors displayed posters, toys, books, and videos in the horror genre. Several celebrities were present including Dee Wallace Stone (the mother in E.T.), Priscilla Barnes (Three's Company, The Devils Rejects), and legendary director George Romero (The Night of the Living Dead trilogy, Creepshow). Despite the absence of others like Rutger Hauer (Blade Runner), Denise Crosby (Star Trek:The Next Generation), and Adrienne Barbeau (Maude, Escape from New York) due to issues including air flight disruption from the recent terrorist threat, this was a crowded event with something for every horror fan.

OSCAR PREDICTIONS 2006

OK, I have been out of the loop for awhile (due to some major construction at the homestead) and there are several significant movie reviews forthcoming. However, I cannot miss out on the annual Oscar picks. I have seen most of the major films but I have not been able to catch up to the middle of the pack e.g. Syriana
Here we go and I went with my heart on the top awards even if it went against the popular consensus.
PICTURE-BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN was not the strongest movie of the year but its central theme struck a chord that should sweep it into history.
ACTOR-PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN’s role of a lifetime that he makes the most of.
ACTRESS-Reese Witherspoon seems to have the popular edge by a mile. I choose FELICITY HUFFMAN’s more challenging though under seen role in Transamerica, but what do I know?
SUPPORTING ACTOR-If there is justice in the world, PAUL GIAMATTI’s gutsy performance in Cinderella Man will win a split decision over popular juggernaut George Clooney.
SUPPORTING ACTRESS-RACHEL WEISZ was the soul of The Constant Gardener even though Amy Adams leaped out of Junebug
DIRECTOR–for a versatile career, the award goes to ANG LEE especially in a relatively weak field.
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY-CRASH works because some very fine actors brought a great screenplay to life.
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY-BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN emerged from a short story and with an assist from western expert Larry McMurtry
ANIMATED FEATURE-WALLACE & GROMIT IN THE CURSE OF THE WERE- RABBIT was in fact one of the best films of the year.
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE-MARCH OF THE PENGUINS will march down the aisle
ART DIRECTION-MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA
CINEMATOGRAPHY-MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA might be upset by Brokeback Mountain
COSTUME DESIGN-MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA
FILM EDITING-CRASH’s multiple storylines presented a great editing opportunity
SOUND EDITING and SOUND MIXING-KING KONG
VISUAL EFFECTS-KING KONG
MAKEUP-CHRONICLES OF NARNIA
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM-TSOSTI
ORIGINAL SCORE-MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA
ORIGINAL SONG-“Travelin’ Thru”-TRANSAMERICA
I won’t get into the short films which I have not seen.
I think that Memoirs of a Geisha will take some technical awards and could actually win the most Oscars. ENJOY!