Data
Title: Fantastic Mr. Fox
Year: 2009
Length: 87 minutes
Director: Wes Anderson
Writers: Wes Anderson & Noah Baumbach, based on the book by Roald Dahl
Starring: George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Wallace Wolodarsky, Eric Chase Anderson, Michael Gambon
Music: Alexandre Desplat (and non-original music)

My reaction
Synopsis: a fox endangers his family by stealing from mean farmers
How I saw it: in the theater, today
Concept: Great. Not one of Dahl’s best books, but the idea of doing a movie of it in this style is perfect.
Story: Good.
Characters: Great.
Dialog: Good. Unmistakably a Wes Anderson movie. There are a few isolated moments that are kind of bad (it has the typical lesson-learning of a children’s movie, which seems out of place and unnatural here), but the rest of the movie makes up for them.
Pacing: Great.
Cinematography: Good.
Special effects/design: Great. Absolutely amazing.
Acting: Great. The voice-work is entertaining, and the animation is expressive and emotional.
Music: Great. Lots of Burl Ives and Beach Boys, and Desplat’s score is fun.
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great). One of Anderson’s better movies, right up there with Tenenbaums. It’s at a much higher energy level than typical for him, but without losing that quiet, Anderson-y tone.
Objective Rating: 9/10 (Very good).

Hi there, do you remember how awesome you thought Zoolander was the first time you watched it? No? Shut up, you’re lying.

Ben Stiller seems to have been continuously screwing his career up over the last 5/6 years or so, I mean, “Heartbreak Kid“, “Along Came Polly“, that film where he and Edward Norton were priests? Christ, before I typed this I had wiped that travesty from my memory, but now its back. Great.

Anyway, “Tropic Thunder” kind of made you remember that he is a pretty funny actor, and can work well with the right material. The trailer for his new ‘indie’ film gave me a warm feeling inside after a long cold horrible day. It may have been due to LCD Soundsystem’s “All my friends” playing in the background, or it may have been that the film could be good, and from a writer who wrote “The Life Aquatic” and adapted the screenplay for “Fantastic Mr. Fox” I hold high hopes. You’ll probably like it for a while too, until you start to hate it, and then ignore it. Much like the entire world has done with “Garden State“, and will soon be doing to “[500] Days of Summer“. The one thing it doesn’t have is an indie darling kooky girl in it, there’s no Portman or Deschanel, but give Gerwig a chance and she could just fit the bill (albeit will never steal my heart like Deschanel has).

Without further ado and with mixed fanfare of Cheers and Boo’s that would make an X Factor crowd blush, here’s the trailer for Greenberg (and yes, it’s a real shitty name for a movie).

AK47

We’re a day late to this party, but not only is James Murphy working on a new LCD Soundsystem record for 2010, but he’s also scoring the new Noah Baumbach movie, Greenberg. Murphy promised in an interview with Drowned in Sound that the soundtrack would “sound NOTHING like lcd soundsystem.” He also mentions a possible song on the LCD record called “Why Do You Hate Music” that sounds promising. And, if you’re sitting there wondering what could possibly go wrong with a Noah Baumbach-helmed, James Murphy-scored film, we have two words for you: Ben. Stiller. Nonetheless, the trailer shows promise and the supporting cast includes mumblecore vets Greta Gertwig and Mark Duplass. Either way, we’ll be looking forward to the film next March.

To put it simply, I’m a big Noah Baumbach fan. While he’s never been able to find success like his contemporary, Wes Anderson, his output over the last decade and a half has been consistently interesting. Kicking and Screaming was a great film about post-college milieu, The Squid and the Whale is guaranteed a spot on my best of the decade list, and while many were left cold by Margot at the Wedding, I admired its tenacity in dissecting its unlikeable characters, and found it to be a really interesting deconstruction of family dynamics. So yeah, I’m really excited for Greenberg, his latest film. Ben Stiller can be a really good actor when he’s not cashing a check (Night at the Museum anyone?), and despite my general distaste for the mumblecore movement, I do think Greta Gerwig has shown a lot of promise as an actress. So check out the trailer for Greenberg, and see it when it opens next March.

This trailer makes me feel nostalgic. Except the thing is, I’m way younger than Ben Stiller, so I have absolutely no idea what I feel nostalgic for.

Ben Stiller rarely motivates me into seeing a movie.  Even though he is in my favorite movie (guess what that is) and he did quite good in Tropic Thunder, I still don’t feel the need to see any of the movies that he makes.  This is an exception.  He looks quite good in this movie, although he looks like he’s lost a huge amount of weight.

This movie was written and directed by Noah Baumbach, who is insisting that he is a good director.  He’s probably right, but it does seem quite forced sometimes.  He did write The Life Aquatic, and he had something to do with the Fantastic Mr. Fox.  He seems to excel at depicting lost 30 year olds (that seems to be a big theme in movie and TV these days).  Anywho, this is another movie with that same situation.

Click the (very small) poster to watch the trailer.

From Apple.

- izi

Tonight, I preview Fantastic Mr. Fox (written by Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach based on the Roald Dahl book) and the new ICON theater in the SLP. You may know Roald Dahl and I have a history. I worked on the film Matilda as a production assistant and even appeared as an extra. Good times.

My next most anticipated film is also by Noah Baumbach. Looks and sounds…well, kinda perfect for me. March 12 is too long to wait.

And maybe the coffee is talking, but I’m super fired-up for this week.
Thanksgiving with the joint families, a wedding in MKE and a mini-high school reunion reunion. Perhaps a few days off from the kids is getting me typing quickly here, too. Milwaukee, a great place on a great lake: Here we come.

At a crossroads in his life, Roger Greenberg (Ben Stiller) ends up housesitting at his brother’s home in Los Angeles. There, he strikes up an unlikely friendship with his brother’s assistant Florence (Greta Gerwig), an aspiring singer. Florence and Greenberg’s encounters lead to an uncertain and wonderfully vulnerable courtship.

…és amíg ez kijön, Noah Baumbachtól ajánlom pl a “The Squid and the Whale”-t!;)

The Squid and the Whale by Noah Baumbach is an account of the potential effects parents’ divorce can have on their children. Bernard Berkman is a published literary writer and teacher, but has not been able to publish again for some time. He and his wife, Joan, have started to drift apart. And since Joan has started to write as well, tensions mount as he becomes more distant and competitive in light of her nearing success. They decide to separate and their two sons, Frank and Walt, struggle to come to terms with their separation and the knowledge of their mother’s affairs. When a twenty-year-old sexy female student of Bernard comes to live with him and Walt, Walt is drawn to her and questions his loyalty to his current, ordinary girlfriend.

It is clear that Frank prefers his mother to his father while Walt sides with his dad, even though, ironically, Frank has his father’s features, whilst Walt looks like his mother. Walt looks up to Bernard and wishes to be as talented, successful and erudite as he is. At the beginning of the film he appears to be an avid literary reader and scholar, but the viewer later comes to learn that he merely hides behind a pseudo-intellectual facade. He even goes as far as to plagiarise a song by Pink Floyd at his school’s talent competition. The opening scene reveals a lot of the absurd competitiveness Bernard has with his wife, and even with his youngest son, which becomes evident during their table tennis matches. But Joan has been no angel either. She has had many affairs and does not seem to be apologetic about it. Both parents are so unplugged from their children, that they do not even realise what is happening to them. Frank is often left alone at home and he starts to drink as a means to escape. He is pre-puberty and does not understand everything about sex his parents talk so liberally about. He is confused and starved for attention, and starts to act out; his smearing of bodily fluids is a clear cry for help.

During divorce parents often lose sight of their children’s well-being. They are so hell-bent on winning or being right, that their children pick up the bill for their competitive egos. They want to mold their children into screwed-up replicas of themselves, rather than allowing them to become more and more of their true selves. Like Bernard does with Walt. Kahlil Gibran’s words seem so appropriate: “Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, and though they are with you yet they belong not to you”.

SPOILER WARNING: But at least there is a ray of hope. The closing of the film sees Walt going back to the museum to look at the diorama of a giant squid and sperm whale at the American Museum of Natural History. He has finally conjured up the courage to confront the diorama which filled him with so much fear as a child. When he disobeys his father at the hospital and does not aim to please him by calling the blond nurse his father asks for, he finally comes into his own. There is hope that he might find himself again and not just aim to please or become his father. His confrontation with the diorama has a multitude of possible meanings. After having seen his mother and father fight, he has lost his childhood innocence, and that is why he is now old and brave enough to face the squid and the whale head-on by himself. When one sees two loved-ones going at it, other things pale in comparison. It might also imply that he once again discovers that there was indeed a time that he and his mother had a good relationship. And that she was there for him at times his father wasn’t. Hopefully he rediscovers his latent love for her. SPOILERS END HERE.

I must admit that I was somehow disappointed by the film. I had much higher expectations of it having read so many favourable reviews by critics and it having won or been nominated for so many awards. The acting seems quite shallow and frivolous; as if the actors hadn’t delved deep enough into their characters emotionally or psychologically. I’d say Owen Kline, who plays the young Frank, gives the best performance of all. The dialogue is also very hollow, and even though I am a fan of stripped dialogue that insinuates rather than tells all, the dialogue in this film seems full of hot air. There does not seem to be much character development, except for Walt coming to his senses of course. Things do not have to necessarily have a happy ending, for real life does not work that way, but at least it must leave the viewer with something meaningful. Requiem for a Dream ends despairingly for example, but it leaves the reader with enough to chew on, think on, do on. But in The Squid and Whale neither Bernard nor Joan come to profound realisations. One can only hope that Walt’s turnaround serves as impetus for a healthier family dynamic.

Genre: Comedy-Drama
Running time: 81 min
Country: USA
Language: English
Director: Noah Baumbach
Writing credits: Noah Baumbach
Producers: Wes Anderson
Peter Newman
Charles Corwin
Clara Marcowicz
Music: Dean Wareham
Britta Phillips
Randall Posterl
Distributed by: Samuel Goldwyn Films
Main Cast:
Bernard Berkman – Jeff Daniels
Joan Berkman – Laura Linney
Walt Berkman – Jesse Eisenberg
Frank Berkman – Owen Kline
Lili – Anna Paquin
Ivan – William Baldwin

Fantastic Mr. Fox
Directed by Wes Anderson
Written by Anderson, Noah Baumbach
Based on the book by Roald Dahl
Starring George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman

Roald Dahl and Wes Anderson inhabit the same kind of strange space where childhood innocence meets adult fears and disappointment, though they come at it from completely different angles. Dahl’s stories are, roughly, about and for precocious children, and tend to have a lot to do with losing innocence, although tinged by the fact that the big, bad world out there isn’t actually all that scary. Anderson, on the other hand, tends to deal with arrested adults, people who basically have yet to face up to the fact that they can’t hide in childish pursuits or ways of dealing with the world forever. Either way, though, both of their characters end up starting to appreciate a new way of being in the world.
There’s certainly more Anderson than Dahl in Fantastic Mr. Fox, although as far as sensibilities go, they mesh quite well, Dahl’s sweetness and simplicity serving as a kind of balance to some of Anderson’s charming, but increasingly oppressive, quirks. Nevertheless, a few choice changes to the original—Mr. Fox (George Clooney) is now a former thief turned newspaperman who changed his ways for the sake of his son Ash (Jason Schwartzman), a neurotic weirdo whose small stature and talented cousin Kristoffferson (Eric Anderson, Wes’ brother) combine to create one hell of an inferiority complex—put this on Anderson’s turf. Mr. Fox’s midnight raids on the farms of Boggis, Bunce and Bean—one fat, one short, one lean, though equally mean, according to an oft-repated rhyme—become his own way of holding on to the “wild animal” side, and when they inspire the three farmers to tear down his home and lay siege to the burrow they dig to escape, he has to deal with the consequences of his nostalgia. Likewise, the sub-plot with Ash trying to earn some respect seems especially Andersonian, the inventive but slightly odd child striving for the love of his father.

And while Anderson’s quirks follow his themes—for a man who often art-directs his films down to the socks, stop-motion animation is an ideal medium—they’re softened to unreservedly charming thanks to some welcome and playful silliness that would be right at home on Dahl’s pages. One of the most consistently funny gags is when the true animal nature is allowed to peek through the immaculately appointed costumes : for instance, a scene where Mr. Fox and his attorney, Badger (Bill Murray) get into an argument, their double-breasted-suit demeanour eventually giving way to hissing and clawing, before they calm back down and get to business. There’s also a few funny bits that play with the fact it’s animated, most notably some unfortunate beagles keeling over after ingesting some sleeping-pill laced blueberries—although the occasional glazed look of Kylie (Wally Wolodarsky), a possum and Fox’s sort of clueless sidekick, is a reliable running gag, too.

The other thing Anderson does quite well is play with the camera, panning out to reveal his characters in the landscape—or the impressive network of tunnels Fox and friends have built—but also getting up close enough for us to see the hairs bristle. It makes the world seem a lot more alive, and has the bonus of allowing him to occasionally play camera tricks for gags, as when the animals tear off through the underground, frantically digging.

Those are sort of little bits, but they allow for some cracks in the armour of self-serious quirk that really hurt The Darjeeling Limited, keeping things decidedly light and playful, so we can appreciate the oddity of each these characters more fully. Anderson used to do that with plaintive melancholy, and Fantastic Mr. Fox wouldn’t be hurt by a bit more depth of feeling, but that’s really just quibbling with one of the more charming, breezy films of the ear. Fantastic Mr. Fox is perfect proof that, once you get past the quirk and settle into Anderson’s world, he’s got enough style and wit to make even animated animal characters that bubble with life.

I really adored this movie. I think my favorite part might have been listening to foxes talk about their home mortgages. I was easily entertained by the juxtaposition of cartoon foxes with real life. Wes Anderson always creates really delightful movies, blah blah blah, and this time was no different. I’d pretty much go see it again. This movie made me feel more excited about the prospect of screenwriting, and also more excited about being a Vassar grad (Noah Baumbach co-wrote with Wes Anderson while Meryl Streep talked in it). However, in looking for fine print on my diploma, nowhere does it say I am entitled to work on whimsical films based on Roald Dahl books. In fact, it lists no life purpose anywhere. I think this must have been a mistake. Tangents aside, I found Fantastic Mr. Fox to be more than cute, but also maybe profound and inspiring. Or at least inspiring. It was fun and smart and I laughed a lot, much to the dismay of the grumpy dude sitting next to me (who, luckily, wasn’t my date). I might almost say it’s my favorite Wes Anderson movie now but… always a soft spot for the Royal Tenenbaums. Hard to say!

Noah Baumbach’s The Squid and the Whale arrived with great fanfare when it was released in 2005. Critics hailed it. Audiences adored it. Well, those that saw it did. Baumbach was the toast of critic’s circles, the Independent Spirit Awards and the Golden Globes, and the film wound up on over 200 Top Ten Lists. Or so the DVD case claims. When I saw it way back when, I felt conflicted about it. There was something about it that was undeniably appealing, but it was also an undeniably flawed piece. When revisiting it this past week those flaws came bubbling to the surface.

In a breezy 81 minutes, Baumbach tells the story of a failed union and the realization of two children that their parents were not the titans they imagine them to be, but are instead two flawed individuals. The children (the elder played by Jesse Eisenberg, the younger wonderfully portrayed by Owen (son of Kevin) Kline) are the center of the film, which makes the story of the crumbling marriage also the story of two boys’ coming of age and the ways in which they deal with their parents’ inadequacies.  Baumbach does a masterful job at handling both the adult and child side of this dysfunctional family tale. Neither parents’ (played by Jeff Daniels and Laura Linney, both of whom turn in spellbinding performances) nor childrens’ emotional arcs are given short shrift.

The parents’ part of the story, in particular, is where Baumbach hits most often. His depiction of the jealousy, insecurity, infidelity, and inability to communicate that rot a marriage from the inside out are the heartbreaking work of a man who has seen this kind of deterioration first hand. Neither parent comes out looking good. Linney’s Joan seems faultless until the infidelities are revealed, whilst Daniels’ Bernard is a constantly condescending, selfish man-child whose insecurities are always more apparent to those around him (and the audience) than they are to the character. There is a great deal of honesty in the scenes between the two parents, both when they fight with one another (which they do frequently) and when they don’t.  She takes lovers and he jealously tries to keep up. He uses the children against her, and she keeps all ten of her fingers in the dam to ensure all of her secrets don’t come spilling out. Neither party is completely innocent, but neither holds all the guilt, either.

Much more problematic is the treatment of the story of the two children. The younger, Frank, spins his parents’ divorce into a sexual uproar. The elder, Walt, sides with his father, and takes his word as gospel. Surprisingly, however, the scenes with the children come across as false. There is pain and there is confusion, but the characters are drawn shallowly. Walt, in particular, seems unable to reach his own conclusions about his parents’ divorce, which seems natural for children in broken homes, however it is here that we see the flaws of Baumbach’s writing, as Walt’s innocence in this area never fully melds with the character’s blindly self-assured facade. Sure, mindless confidence is itself a form of innocence, but Eisenberg is simply not a strong enough actor to convincingly portray any kind of inner turmoil to go with that front. He is a product of his father’s worst tendencies. As a result, we are forced to see him as an easily manipulated, irritating teenager, and our ability to care about him is rendered inert by the half hour mark. When he reaches his unremarkable epiphany at the end of the film all we can do is shrug. He might just go out there and think for himself, but who really cares?

Therein lies the film’s central problem, who cares about Walt? He is, ostensibly, the main character, but he is also the least compelling. Frank’s sexual awakening, Joan’s past indiscretions, and Bernard’s suppressed inadequacies as a writer and husband all make for more compelling stories than Walt’s teenage angst. It’s a false note in a film that rings incredibly true for most of its running time; from the handheld camera work to the performances by Daniels, Linney, and the revelation that is young Owen Kline, it almost adds up to a perfect and truthful portrait of failing marriages and youthful anxieties. But it is missing a compelling center, so as it stands we are left with a series of truths that collectively sound like fallacies.

Oh guys, it’s been a crazy past week or so. The New York Comedy Festival was in town through Sunday, and that played a major part in keeping me busy (and in stitches. Also, it is hilarious and sad that Tracy Morgan’s “filthy” routine at Carnegie Hall  qualified as a news story.)

But Comedy Fest aside, you know who else is hi-larious? These guys, together:

Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach at the NYPL, discussing their upcoming stop-motion animated film Fantastic Mr. Fox, based on the Roald Dahl novel. They co-wrote the script.

Wes Anderson currently spends most of his time in Paris, so this week he’s in New York doing blitz promotion for the film, which comes out here this Friday. The NYPL event marked the beginning of a full week and we were lucky that 1) he wasn’t already tired of telling stories about the movie and 2) that he and Baumbach made such a dynamic pair. Seriously, they should do all interviews together.  Having Baumbach next to him made Anderson more relaxed, and we not only experienced more of his personality quirks than we would in a straight interview, but we came out with some interesting anecdotes.

You can read one story about a scene that didn’t make it in to the movie here.

Another story from the night, on writing at Roald Dahl’s home Gipsy house :
Anderson: It was Roald Dahl’s widow, Felicity Dahl, who invited us to work [at Gipsy house]. We met his grandson Luke, Luke Kelly, who showed us, in the sort of billiards room where they had all of his archives, and we started sorting through that stuff.

Baumbach: That was incredible, it was all these pads of things, even just like ideas, like, a good line for somebody to say in something. The things that never made it in..

A: One thing that was very pornographic that Luke flipped to and showed us,

B: … he was just like “You gotta look at this one”

A: It was just like a little poem, just a sentence. Do you remember what it was?

B: I don’t remember. I just remember it being– you would think in that context anything even slightly racy would be shocking, but this was totally pornographic.

A: I remember it but I don’t think I can say it. Maybe later in the.. after we warm up.

B: At the reception, maybe.

The poem? (Mom and dad, cover your eyes):

(drumroll…)

“What she needs is a belly full of hot cock.”

Roald Dahl! But maybe he was talking about a woman who was hungry for some chicken?

And last but not least a tale from Anderson, where he recounted something he said in response to a reporter who seemed to hate all his work. I like Baumbach’s response:
A: It was very clear, every question was negative… I didn’t quite express to him that I cannot have an objective conversation to my response to things people don’t like about my work. I did say to him, ‘If I were Oliver Stone, you would have a broken jaw by now. You’re just lucky it’s just me.’ ”

B: That’s a good meta way to punch somebody.

You can hear full audio of the night here. Worth listening if just to hear Anderson’s hiccupy laugh (it’s sort of adorable).

After the talk I went to a lovely reception for Anderson and Baumbach, where they spent the night very close to the exit, most likely for an easy getaway.  I’m thinking  it’s probably because they wanted to catch up after not seeing each other for 2 years, and not, of course, because they didn’t want to mingle with a room full of press and Young Lions.

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Okay, last night. Before the movie’s premiere party  Anderson popped up again, this time at the 92YTribeca with Jason Schwartzman, who is in Fantastic Mr. Fox,  and some interviewer from Entertainment Weekly:

Some things I learned from the evening (I’ll make it quick):

* When searching for the main character in Rushmore, they were looking for a “young Mick Jagger.” Schwartzman showed up in a school blazer, complete with crest.

*There was a part written for Schwartzman in The Royal Tenenbaums, that ended up being “superfluous.” It  a boy that lived across the street from the family, who escaped from his boarding school in Switzerland and was secretly living in the attic of his diplomat parents. He was named Mortechai. They cut the story out and replaced him with a bird.

*Schwartzman has no plans to tour with Coconut Records at the moment, but he would do it if he could get a band together. Drummer suggestion: John Stamos.

So, now you know some stuff. If you want to know more, ask tomorrow tonight, as Anderson will be at the Apple Store in Soho with Schwartzman and Meryl Streep (!).

[The Fantastic Mr. Fox movie site]

Wes Anderson (director and co-writer of Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums) and Noah Baumbach (writer and director of Margot at the Wedding, The Squid and the Whale) last night conversed about their new film Fantastic Mr. Fox, an animated adaptation of the Roald Dahl book, at LIVE from the NYPL (New York Public Library). It was entertaining to watch these colleagues and close friends talk about things they’ve talked about many times before, and ask each other questions they knew the answers to. Noah: “Wes, why don’t you tell the audience about how Fantastic Mr. Fox was one of the first books you had as a child, one that was always on your bookshelf”. Wes: “Yes, that’s one of the things I’ve been saying in interviews, and it’s very possibly true”. They recounted the process of making the film through plenty of entertaining anecdotes. When the animators couldn’t achieve the right expressions and movements in the animals, Wes would give direction by making a quick video of himself. He admitted, “it’s embarrassing to email videos of myself acting out animals…in the morning…in my pajamas…to a large group of people in London.” Fantastic Mr. Fox opens on Friday.

Wes Anderson

Conozco a Noah Baumbach desde 2004 cuando hizo equipo con Wes Anderson en The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou y me pareció formidable la historia. Repiten equipo en Fantastic Mr. Fox este año y estoy muy ansioso de verla. Ahora bien si hubiera elegido esta peli por el director de pronto no la hubiera visto porque primero no lo conozco tanto y segundo no lo conozco tanto.

Esta peli la ví por Jack Black. Pueden actuar Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, John Turturro, Ciarán Hinds y aún así no hubiera entrado. Todos son excelentes actores, es más que reparto tan basto, pero el nombre de la peli y esta combinación de actores sólo podía ser característica de un género en particular que no me agrada tanto y es el melodrama. Pensé que con Black hubiera un chance de que fuera una tragicomedia o algo por el estilo, ya la había embrrado una vez en 2006 cuando vi The Holiday pero pues me podía dar esa oportunidad.

Mis sospechas se hicieron reales, la peli es un melodrama psicológico donde dos hermanas exorcisan sus demonios y se demuestran la una a la otra sus errores. Son las mejores amigas pero igual no son capaces de convivir. De lejos, su relación es melancólica, cálida, entrañadora y nostálgica. De cerca, son agresivas, pasivo-agresivas, bipolares y orgullosas.

No digo que sea mala, no llena mis expectativas, no me conmueve ese tipo de relaciones y situaciones. Baumbach decidió hacer una obra para ser actuada y escogió un reparto ideal. Todo está armado para resaltar las actuaciones y sus diálogos, incluso la cinematografía según ellos mismos explican (Baumbach y Harris Savides cinematógrafo de la peli) fue desarrollada en planos de una sóla toma para que al unirlos en corte de planos sencillos da una sensación incluso de un documental argumentativo. Perfecto. Llega a tal punto ese protagonismo la actuación que siento no hay un desenlace claro de la historia y más que un final abierto se deja la sensación de una obra inconclusa, a medio terminar.

Tomar la decisión de ver la peli por los actores es una acción correcta. Por mi lado, la próxima peli de Baumbach, que no sea en equipo con Anderson, me voy a dar el lujo de dejarla pasar y esperarla en TV o DVD.

Nota Personal. La aproximación y deslumbrante actuación de Nicole Kidman se ven completamente opacadas con el exceso de botox en su cara. Las escenas verdaderamente dramáticas muestran unas facciones y gestos en contra de natura perfectas para otro tipo de géneros fílmicos. Una lástima ya que una gran actriz se está perdiendo en su propia vanidad.

The honor of being “F.I.L.M. of the Week” is now officially bestowed upon “The Squid and the Whale.”  It is perhaps one of the most brazen movies I have ever seen, and I loved every minute of it.  I should have known by reading the movie’s tagline, “Joint Custody Blows.”  The movie is based on events from the life of writer/director Noah Baumbach (a frequent collaborator with director Wes Anderson), a fact that only enhances the experience.  Chronicling the events following the separation his parents in the 1980s and the chaos that ensues, “The Squid and the Whale” joins “Revolutionary Road” as one of the few domestic dramas that I buy completely.  The believability is a result of Baumbach’s clever dialogue, which got him an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay, and two powerful performances from Laura Linney and Jeff Daniels that deserved to be lauded much more than they were.

The film is a masterful piece overall, but it is particularly deft at showing the psychological effects of the divorce on all involved.  16-year-old Walt (Jesse Eisenberg) becomes a prime example of how we all become our parents whether we like it or not as he uncertainly navigates a relationship while pondering other options.  On a similar note, 12-year-old Frank (Owen Kline) begins to probe into the sordid secrets of the world of drugs and sexuality with potentially harmful consequences.  And the harm doesn’t stop at the kids.  Both Bernard and Joan, played respectively by Daniels and Linney, have to deal with the breaking of the fragile joint custody agreement.  Their personalities lead to split alliances between the kids; Walt sides with his father while Frank sides with his mother.  And Bernard and Joan only deepen the divisions as poor decisions are made and new romantic relationships are formed.

Even though a comparison was drawn earlier to the heavy “Revolutionary Road,” “The Squid and the Whale” is much different.  It provides plenty of laughs, many from the profuse profanity from Daniels and the young Kline, but equally from some biting, witty dialogue from Baumbach.  His knack for finding the lighter side of the bitter dissolution of a marriage that makes “The Squid and the Whale” such a marvelous film.  And did I mention that it runs only 80 minutes long?

I am particularly excited for my New Release Tuesday post today. “Why?” you ask. “Is it because of the new Backstreet Boys CD or the Creed re-release?” Well, I can honestly so that it is not. It is however the first week of October which means the official beginning of the Christmas season for record labels and movie distributors, thus kicking off the nauseating three month frenzy of crap being dumped into the marketplace. Sweet!

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The Raveonettes – In and Out of Control

Emily Haines

For those unfamiliar, The Raveonettes are a brilliant band from Denmark by way of Brooklyn consisting of Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo who I am in love with. Sharin shares a special place in my heart with Metric’s Emily Haines. I indeed have a weakness for waify non-American blonde indie rock chicks who play guitar. Anyway…on to the music.
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The Raveonettes’ last album Lust Lust Lust was my absolute favorite of 2008 and I’ve since been patiently anticipating its follow-up. Their music is like pre-Beatles pop songs recorded by the Velvet Underground and then covered by a Psychocandy era Jesus and Mary Chain who sent the tracks back to the future through a time warp to be mixed by a pre-felony/incarceration era Phil Spector. Helpful? After three attentive listens I’m prepared to say that In and Out of Control isn’t quite on par with Lust Lust Lust, but I didn’t expect it to be. The same seamless harmonies and efficient songwriting, just much less adventurous sonically.
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Here is their incredibly catchy new single “Last Dance”

Dead Man’s Bones – Dead Man’s Bones

Ryan Gosling

Two things can be expected from actors who become bored with acting and decide they want to be rock stars: A) Their album will suck. B) No matter how bad it sucks some label will take a gamble and release it. For this reason I was terrified upon hearing Ryan Gosling, one of my very favorite actors and man crush objects, started a band with his neighborhood’s hipster children’s choir and they were releasing an album. Initially I feared that best case scenario it would be dismissed as an indulgent novelty and forgotten before doing any permanent damage. Well, sorry I doubted you Ryan.
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I am relieved to say that after listening, my respect for Gosling as an artist has only deepened. Dead Man’s Bones can’t easily be summed with comparisons so I’ll just recommend listening to it. The best I can do is say that it’s eclectic, charming in a creepy sort of way and best experienced with a fake life-sized doll.

Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions – Through the Devil Softly

Best known as the former singer of mid 90’s shoegaze folk duo Mazzy Star whose song “Fade Into You” still finds its way onto soundtracks and TV shows. Hope could sing through a phone book and make it haunting and rich, (though I hope she never does because that would make for the worst album ever), and to me that’s why this album as a whole doesn’t grab me. Too much gets stripped down and cleared away to make room for her vocals and as a result sometimes the songs either run into one another or just don’t go anywhere. Through the Devil Softly was produced by former My Bloody Valentine guitarist Colm O’Coisoig who I wish would have brought some of his former band’s sonic adventure with him to this one. Click here for more good times secret

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Built to Spill – There is no Enemy

Indie-rock troubadours continue to make it work after 15 years. Nothing groundbreaking, just good vibrant pop-rock songs and giant beards.

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Noah & the Whale – The First Days of Spring

This British folk band’s name is a tribute to filmmaker Noah Baumbach and his wonderful 2005 film The Squid and the Whale which makes them instantly cool. Their sophomore album The First Days of Spring is a melancholy affair that seems to largely be about lead singer Charlie Fink and former member Laura Marling’s relationship. While it makes for a focused album it comes off as semi-pitiful when considering that 19 year old Laura’s album Alas, I Cannot Swim is quite good and seems to have nothing at all to do with him.

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Matthew Good – Vancouver

Well-crafted, emotive songs from veteran Canadian singer-songwriter.

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Brandi Carlisle – Give Up the Ghost

Produced by Rick Rubin, the mastermind behind Johnny Cash’s American recordings. Love her voice, like her songs as much as I need to.

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Air – Love 2

Sleepy and uninspired 5th album from the French electronica duo responsible for setting the moody sonic backdrop to Sofia Coppola’s debut film The Virgin Suicides.

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Clientele – Bonfires on the Heath

Well, this hazy, London indie rock band is nothing if not consistent. Sometimes predictability can work.

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DVD’s

Anvil: The Story of Anvil

The fact that I never heard of Anvil and that my only interest in 80’s hair metal is mocking its ridiculousness didn’t stop me from loving this documentary. The film was marketed as the “true to life” Spinal Tap which makes sense but at the same time trivializes the heart of the film. It is hilarious and equal time is spent laughing with them and at them but it’s also heartbreaking. At Anvil’s core is a story about disappointment and broken dreams and the relationships that sustain us. Director Rob Reiner does a great job delicately balancing humor and heart. You will find yourself cheering these guys on as they take one final stab at their dream. I Highly recommend!

Books

PostSecret: Confessions on Life, Death, and God

This book series is very meaningful to me so I’ll post about it at length in a couple days

(In ascolto: Charlotte Sometimes – The Cure)

Pubblicato su Lankelot, settembre 2009.

L’adolescenza è con molta probabilità il soggetto cui la rappresentazione cinematografica incontra maggiormente i suoi limiti. Questo perché spesso le sceneggiature partono da futili premesse di tipo sociologico, che spostano l’attenzione sui soggetti della rappresentazione, vale a dire gli adolescenti, trattandoli di conseguenza quasi come oggetti di studio, semplice fenomeno da analizzare. Prospettiva questa che altera completamente la realtà delle cose perché tende ad oggettivizzare ciò che invece è puramente soggettivo, in questo caso la Weltanschauung propria di un adolescente. Da qui tutta una serie di pellicole mediocri che non fanno altro che limitarsi a registrare unicamente gli eccessi e le stravaganze del mondo adolescenziale, rigettando qualsiasi tentativo di introspezione psicologica. Ciò che andrebbe dipinto alla stregua di un quadro impressionista, con i colori che sfumano l’uno nell’altro è invece ritratto con contorni marcati e netti. Il che provoca personaggi che sono come dei monoliti di granito che neanche il regista più capace sarebbe in grado di malleare per darne una forma sensibile.

Ci sono dei casi però in cui il racconto affonda le proprie radici nelle esperienze biografiche e le sceneggiature diventano quasi confessione diaristica o psicologica, riuscendo a conquistare in questo modo una certa dignità letteraria. È questo ad esempio il caso di un regista come Franςois Truffaut, che ancora oggi rappresenta un modello inarrivabile. La scena finale de I Quattrocento Colpi rappresenta da sola, insieme a romanzi come La Linea d’Ombra, Demian, I Turbamenti del Giovane Törless o Il Giovane Holden, uno dei tentativi più riusciti di raccontare e rappresentare la linea di confine che segna il passaggio dall’infanzia all’adolescenza. Il Calamaro e la Balena di Noah Baumbach è un’opera che si inserisce senza dubbio in questo filone più nobile del “cinema che racconta l’adolescenza”. Già sceneggiatore con Wes Anderson (qui produttore) del bellissimo Le Avventure Acquatiche di Steve Zissou, Baumbach ha come il suo collega più celebre, quella stessa capacità di coniugare il tragico con il comico senza mai rinunciare ad una certa malinconia di fondo che fa acquisire alla sua opera una leggerezza inaspettata, nonostante i temi trattati. Il soggetto non è dei più originali – una coppia, i Berkman, che divorzia e le cui disastrose conseguenze si riversano sui figli – ma l’abilità di Baumbach è stata quella di aver scritto una sceneggiatura impeccabile – giustamente candidata agli Oscar – e definire dei personaggi che raccontano e mettono in scena la propria storia individuale, senza alcuna pretesa di astrazione universale. Ciò che invece è universale è la sensibilità con la quale Baumbach registra la psicologia dei propri personaggi, siano essi gli adulti – Laura Linney ed uno splendido Jeff Daniels in un ruolo che era stato scritto appositamente per Bill Murray – o gli adolescenti. Psicologia dei personaggi che trova uno dei mezzi più efficaci per esprimersi tramite un citazionismo mai fine a se stesso e che è anzi inserito nel tessuto diegetico del film. È così che i poster de La Mamain e la Putain di Jean Eustache appesi nella camera del figlio maggiore, o quelli del tennista Vitas Gerulaitis appesi in quella del più piccolo, o ancora il libro di Saul Bellow, La vittima, con il quale il padre va sempre in giro per evidenziare la propria misera condizione, non sono sterili allusioni compiaciute, ma divengono un modo di rappresentazione delle personalità dei personaggi che non necessita delle parole per venire alla luce, e che crea una comunicazione più sotterranea e più introspettiva. Da sempre, durante l’adolescenza, i poster con le quali si ornano le pareti della propria stanza sono come le icone sacre delle chiese, e rappresentano uno dei mezzi più forti con i quali si afferma la propria personalità. Sono simboli, i poster, i libri, i film e le canzoni di cui durante l’adolescenza sentiamo un’inappagabile desiderio di appropriarcene, in cui infondiamo tutte le nostre speranze, le nostre aspirazioni, i nostri sogni. Tutto un intero mondo dentro quei simboli. Cosa che nel film vediamo accadere anche al figlio maggiore della famiglia Berkman, Walt, che per il saggio scolastico di fine anno presenta una canzone dei Pink Floyd, Hey You spacciandola per propria, giustificandosi nel momento in cui verrà scoperto, che  non «non importa» perché è una canzone avrebbe potuto scrivere lui.

Ancora ad una citazione è affidato il finale, che richiama quasi alla lettera proprio quello de I Quattrocento Colpi, con la lunga corsa di Walt che culminerà con il passaggio della “linea d’ombra”: la visione del Calamaro e la Balena.

2007: Margot at the wedding di Noah Baumbach

Uscito direttamente in dvd questo film che può vantare un cast di gran prestigio e un regista “cult” del cinema indipendente (film presentato con successo in vari Festival tra cui quello di Toronto).

La critica lo ha molto apprezzato: “Imperativo rifiutare la versione italiana e sfruttare l’unico vantaggio dell’uscita diretta in dvd: l’accesso alla banda originale ci permette di apprezzare la migliore Kidman di sempre e una Jennifer Jason Leigh di commovente bravura” (Gli Spietati), “Con il titolo italiano che gli hanno appioppato, questo film rischia d’essere confuso e trascurato tra le tante insulse commedie di argomento matrimoniale che impestano il mercato: ma, una volta di più, sarebbe un vero peccato” (Cinemalia), “Scritta in maniera intelligente, sagace e profonda dal regista, la pellicola è una tragicommedia che analizza con verità estrema, senza infingimenti di sorta, le tormentate dinamiche di una famiglia disfunzionale” (Il Sole 24 ore), “Una pellicola non facile ma che regala sicuramente forti emozioni” (Screenweek). Giudizi che mi trovano perfettamente concorde e che rendono alquanto inquietanti e preoccupanti i misteri della distribuzione italiana.

Il matrimonio di mia sorella (come sottolineato da più parti il titolo italiano è fuorviante) richiama i film “seri” di Woody Allen o molta produzione di Ingmar Bergman per l’analisi, a volte impietosa, della famiglia e delle relazioni umane. Perfetta la mescolanza di riso e pianto. Un po’ commedia un po’ dramma esistenziale, un’opera che delinea come poche la solitudine e la difficoltà del comunicare: una accurata sincera graffiante analisi della fragilità umana.

Dialoghi taglienti, svolgimento non banale grazie a una solida sceneggiatura (scritta ottimamente dallo stesso regista, Noah Baumbach) attenta più ai dettagli che alle azioni.

L’abbondanza di finezze psicologiche, il mirabile affresco di un’umanità dissociata (quanti di noi potranno riconoscervi?), nonché la particolare fotografia non retoricamente estetizzante e la funzionale colonna sonora fanno de Il matrimonio di mia sorella un film da vedere e assaporare. Fiore all’occhiello è soprattutto l’eccezionale performance dell’intero cast: dal sottoutilizzato Ciaràn Hinds (Dick) alla sempre convincente Flora Cross (Ingrid) già ammirata in Parole d’amore, da un sempre perfetto John Turturro alla rivelazione Zane Pais (Claude), da un sorprendente e insolito Jack Black a una Jennifer Jason Leigh che non smette di stupire per il suo notevole talento e a una Nicole Kidman tornata finalmente a recitare in un ruolo degno della sua bravura.

Toccante e ironico, profondo e leggero al contempo, Il matrimonio di mia sorella coinvolge ed emoziona pur con i suoi toni pacati e quasi dimessi.

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