Historically, when a female character takes on the role of hero–especially that of action hero–her motivation is singularly feminine: to protect her young. Whether it’s Ellen Ripley shouting, “Get away from her you bitch!” to divert an alien’s attention from her surrogate daughter or Beatrix Kiddo embarking on a bloody revenge odyssey to punish those who robbed her of her unborn child, women are generally only allowed to take on a traditionally masculine role when there’s a feminine motivation to offset it. Continue reading
Recaps & Reviews
Martha Marcy May Marlene and Jeff, Who Lives At Home are two films that take a look at the people in their twenties and early thirties who haven’t quite found themselves. No, they aren’t hippies but the characters are definitely people that go through life in a way that society doesn’t always agree with.
British band Bush played the Congress Theater in Chicago on August 18 as part of a series of warm-up dates for the world tour they will start in October. It was a free show that had two lines (priority ticket holders and “regular” ticket holders) spanning nearly a mile on Chicago city blocks. This was a free concert sponsored by Samsung and AT&T as part of their Summer Krush series. The priority ticket holders were told to arrive at the venue a half hour before the doors opened to guarantee entry. Not only did they get guaranteed admission, but they were also treated to an hour of a hype man selling the crowd on AT&T and Samsung products. Someone won a phone and someone else won a guitar. Not sure what the guitar winner was supposed to do with a guitar at the beginning of a concert, but that was his problem. Continue reading
So the deal with Scheherazade was (basically) that she needed to keep the King entertained with new and better stories to protect her own life. For some time now though, Scheherazade has been phoning it in as “Reality TV” has been allowed to creep into our chambers and bore us merely pacify us with annoying people making cakes, crazy people making cupcakes, fat bastards collecting used crap, dirty people catching crabs, flaky women speed dating a bunch of douches and the like. At least Project Runway actually required the contestants to be able to accomplish something you can judge see from home. (unlike all those Top Chef programs where they make food, some asshat tastes it and tells you it’s wrong and you’re just left feeling hungry and alone) The good news is that as of this July, Scheherazade is again bringing the goods since if she doesn’t I will cut her. Continue reading
NOTE: I am not some computer genius. I’m a guy who surfs the net a lot and tries to fix his computer himself. I know a bit more than my parents about computers, but
I am in no way Tim Berners-Lee.
Thanks to the fine folks over at Demonoid, I grabbed a copy of 0x 7 yesterday and installed it on my laptop.
First things first: You can only run this if you have a Core 2 Duo or i5 or i7. Don’t think your old G4 Cube can handle this operating system. Also, Core Duos, sorry, you’re out. You guys are the new Power PC. Second, there’s no installation DVD. You download and launch the .dmg and everything else is taken care of for you. This was especially welcome to me, because my DVD drive broke after I dropped my laptop. Just double click the .dmg, and let it sit for around 45 minutes (my black MacBook – 2.2 Ghz core 2 duo – told me it would take 30 minutes, but that bastard lied to me) and then you’ll be done. Continue reading
In the musical theater world, there is the legend of Carrie: The Musical. Yes, I said Carrie: the Musical. It was an ill-conceived piece that showed up on Broadway in the ‘80’s and didn’t make it out of previews. It left people agog, and theater queens to this day are still talking about it. Here’s a clip! Since then, theatergoers have been seeking out the next Carrie, for the lulz. Many people thought Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark was going to raise the bar for flops. That being said, what’s playing now at the Foxwoods theater isn’t a flop, and seems to have enough staying power to stick around, for better or for worse. Continue reading
Super 8 is set in a time before cell phones and texting when friendships required a little more work on the part of those involved. We meet our rag-tag group of friends in the late seventies as they band together to film a zombie movie for a student film festival. Continue reading
Born This Way is NOT The Fame. For some of you, that’s the best news ever. For others, that the worst thing you’ve heard. And then there are those of you who don’t give a shit. Neither does Lady Gaga. Continue reading
Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Eric Bana & Cate Blanchett
Directed by: Joe Wright
Written by: Seth Lochhead and David Farr. Story by Seth Lochhead
Often times when you go into a movie you aren’t certain what you are going to get. Sure, you can see previews and read reviews but there’s always the possibility you’ll be surprised. This one of the great as well as awful things about spending money to go see a film. More often than not it seems that people are drawn into a bad film based on a clever trailer and leave disappointed. Sometimes though a film can end up being better than you expected.
Such was the fortunate case for me in seeing Hanna. Sure I like Joe Wright as a director, after all 2 out of his other 3 features (minus the abysmally reviewed/received “The Soloist”) have been quite good. And although Bana and Blanchett have more pluses than minuses in my book, their respective presences do not guarantee a film’s quality.
The biggest x factor of course was Saoirse Ronan herself. I have only seen the recently turned 17 year old actress in one other film to date, the exceptional 2007 Joe Wright directed film Atonement. However I was impressed with the gravitas and talent that she brought to the screen at the time. I have also heard she was great in the otherwise lackluster film adaptation of the The Lovely Bones. I am pleased to see not only did she not disappoint, but she helped make the film exceed my expectations.
Hanna (Ronan) has grown up in the wilds near the arctic circle. She has never known more than her relatively simple very low tech life. However despite their less than modern accommodations, her father Erik (Bana), a man with a mysterious past, has given her a very deep and varied education including a multitude of languages, sharp shooting and deadly hand to hand combat skills. Essentially he has trained her to be an assassin. When the time comes and Hanna decides she is ready she is able to send a signal notifying auhorities where they are. This alerts Marissa (Blanchett), a former colleague of her father’s, that Erik is in fact still alive and sets into motion events that will challenge Hanna’s ability to survive.
This film truly did impress me on a number of levels. There are a goodly number of high action sequences and I was very pleased with the skill in which Wright and cinematographer Alwin Kuchler were able to capture everything without relying on recent conventions of blurred movement and shaky cams which have been become staples of action sequences in recent years. Beyond that there were in fact a number of shots worked in that were fairly unique and did not detract from the viewing experience.
Eric Bana delivers a solid and believable performance as Hana’s well meaning father. Their relationship despite moments of violence between them is truly the emotional heart of the story. Regardless of how unconventional their lives are in the film you can’t help but think he did his damnedest to be a good father.
Equally skilled was the far more often great than not Cate Blanchett. Though she has been in a few films I consider duds (cough Indiana Jones & the Kingdom of the cash grab sequel cough) she generally is one of the highlights of the films she chooses and has enormous range in her craft. As the decidedly vile Marissa she delivers yet again, bringing a believable foil and counterpoint to Erik.
But as I stated before the success of this film mainly rests on the shoulders of Saiorse Ronan. She is magnificent as the titular character. She conveys such intensity that she doesn’t just hold her own in the scenes she shares with the other leads, she owns them. I cannot say enough how impressed I was with her. Training for the role could not have been easy by a long shot and in the hands of a less capable actress the action scenes would not have been half as believable. The best thing I can think of to describe her character is the grit and determination of Sarah Conner or Ellen Ripley meeting the the skill and deadliness of Hit Girl. In other words, she may look sweet and innocent, but do not fuck with her.
In retrospect the story isn’t perfect. There are themes that are touched on but not fully explored or developed. There are other aspects that they just ask us to take for granted that seem fantastical. However a film like this requires a certain willing suspension of disbelief. It’s close enough to being plausible and that helps its cause. And the way in which the film comes full circle is both brutal to a degree and should be satisfying to the viewer.
2011 has thus far not been exactly spectacular on the film front. Granted there are a number of titles coming in the next weeks and months that fans of any number of styles can appreciate and enjoy. In the meantime however in my mind Hanna is the film that has most stood out to be noticed. The collaboration of Wright and Ronan has delivered another gem. I give it 6 beers.
The Timothy Files, Lawrence Sanders, 1987, Berkley Books
Timothy’s Game, Lawrence Sanders, 1988, Berkley Books
When the term Private Investigator comes up in conversation, everyone has a touchstone. Whether it’s Magnum P.I. or Sam Spade, the overall tradition has been of a man who is pithy, good with the ladies, drinks, smokes, and kills, albeit reluctantly and usually in self defense.
Ladies and Gentlemen, meet Timothy Cone.
Although he’s a private detective and fits the bill of stereotypes, he’s not pithy. In fact, he’s the only detective who has forced me keep a dictionary handy to translate his verbosity during the reading of Lawrence Sanders’ wonderfully funny and unfortunately too short series of 2 books containing 3 short stories each.
Timothy Cone works for Haldering & Co. a Manhattan Wall Street firm that investigates clients for buyouts and mergers. Pretty dull stuff in theory, until the murder, sex, (the stories take place in the 1980’s, so there is a lot of cocaine and some ebullient wife-swapping) and thievery of the clients make the books difficult to put down. With plots that are so realistic they can awaken the felon a reader never knew they inwardly possessed, (I know now how to commit insider trading if it was 30 years ago). The books “The Timothy Files” and “Timothy’s Game” have intricate descriptions of Manhattan when it was still dirty and dangerous, with mind-numbingly intelligent plots that make these short stories some of the best mysteries I have ever read. And re-read. And still laughed out loud at, 16 years after I read them for the first time. But the best thing, is the is the dialogue. (And the fact that when Cone leaves his apartment he orders his cat, Cleo not to masturbate while he is gone.)
Cones’ description of his romantic interest Samantha Watling, (his boss): “an iron fist in an iron glove.”
About a briefcase full of papers he has to carry home: “I lugged the blivet down here.” *
Admiring an attractive woman: “What a dish! He suddenly remembers a gyrene** buddy of his spotting a similar woman on the street and remarking admiringly, ‘all you need with that is a spoon and a straw.'”
A sergeant he’s working a case with, who constantly bums cigarettes: “I’m trying to quit smoking by not buying cigarettes. Now I’m going to die a mooch with lung cancer.”
To a libidinous older police detective he’s eating lunch with: “Your a dirty old man.” “Well, I was a dirty young man, I haven’t changed.”
These stories are fast paced, daring, and the perfect mix of noir and humor. And I haven’t loaned one out without the person becoming a convert. A girlfriend who’s never read a mystery, a friend before he was shipped to Iraq, a theater production designer – they all came back raving and quoting the book randomly over drinks.
Timothy Cone can make friends among the most diverse groups of people.
I’m not a fan of Lawrence Sanders’ ‘Deadly Sin’ series, or any of his other books actually. They never captured my interest. But, to re-work that stupid Jerry Maguire quote into the ground in regard to Timothy Cone, “He had me at scragged.” ***
* blivet – 10 pounds of shit in a 5 pound bag
**gyrene – a member the US Marine Corps
*** scragged – killed