Pitchin’

^ The cast of Pitch Perfect- Left to Right: Rebel Wilson, Ester Dean, Anna Camp, Alexis Knapp, Anna Kendrick, Brittany Snow, and Hana Mae Lee. For a movie as generally well-received as this one was, it was not shown a whole lotta love during the year-end awards derby. Most of the accolades, when they appeared, were for Wilson though the film as a whole was up for a People’s Choice award.  Why not a Golden Globe for Best Musical or Comedy or, even better, a Best Ensemble nod at the Screen Actors Guild Award–or is there a limit on many musicals can be nominated per year? Thanks a lot, Les Misérables.

At last. I started writing about this movie several weeks ago, and I have gotten sidetracked more times than I care to admit. I feel great about posting this piece at last, but I also feel behind the times as well as though I am the last person to arrive at the party…

Maybe the whole thing is just generational, but when it comes to female bonding comedies, I’m generally more 9 to 5 (1980) and First Wives Club (1996) than I am Bridesmaids (2011).  Funny that. When the first two movies were released, I was younger than the women on screen–significantly younger. On the other hand, I’m about a decade older than the top-billed stars of Bridesmaids, Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph. I adore Kristen Wiig. I adore Rudolph too, of course, but I think Wiig may very well be the most fearless performer to ever grace the cast of Saturday Night Live, emphasis on the word “live.” (Can someone actually be “most fearless”? Hmmmmm….) My point is that as much as I love Wiig, and as thrilled as I was that she earned an Oscar nomination for co-writing (w/Annie Mumolo) Bridesmaids,  I pretty much hated that film, and I’ve never made any bones about it. You can check out my 2011/12 Oscar coverage to verify because it’s all there. Again, maybe it’s generational.

Oh sure, I chuckled off and on during the movie, mostly when Best Supporting Actress nominee Melissa McCarthy was onscreen. Obviously, Wiig had some inspired moments as well, but the movie pushed  the whole gross-out meter to a level that left me more stupefied than amused. I won’t go so far as to say I was offended because I think “offended” is an easy crutch for people who simply don’t like something, and I don’t buy into that.  I do wish, on the other hand, that I had never seen parts of Bridesmaids, and when I say “parts,”  I’m referring specifically to the sequence set in the bridal salon. If you’ve seen it, you know exactly what I mean, and you might have laughed yourself silly; after all, the movie made a whopping $169 million in this country alone–against a budget of 32 mil. If you haven’t seen it, you might consider yourself lucky.  Someone would have to pay me a lot of money to watch that movie again.

Anyway, my distaste for Bridesmaids pretty much fueled my apprehension about last fall’s  female bonding comedy, Pitch Perfect. I think Universal, which released both titles, wanted to capitalize on the success of the former in its marketing campaign for the latter, mostly by featuring actress Rebel Wilson prominently in the trailer. Aussie Wilson, a zaftig blonde with wicked timing, made a vivid impression in Bridesmaids playing a character,  one of Wiig’s roommates, who was more than a little creepy. Likewise, I seem to recall, and I might be mistaken, something to the effect of,  “From the same studio that brought you Bridesmaids, …” in the Pitch Perfect pre-release hype.  At any rate, I was originally content to skip Pitch Perfect. I expressed my reservation to a friend, especially the part about not wanting to see spewing vomit–and other bodily fluids as in Bridesmaids. This friend did nothing to reassure me that wasn’t the case.  Indeed, I was told that there was indeed spewing, so that was all I needed, or so I thought.

^ Anna Kendrick: Besides Pitch Perfect, she was also recently seen, along with Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena , in Final Watch. She also contributed voice over work to the Oscar nominated animated film ParaNorman. Kendrick earned a Best Supporting Actress nomination for 2009′s Up in the Air starring George Clooney. She  became one of the youngest ever Tony nominees–for Featured Actress in a Musical–when she appeared on Broadway in Holiday; she was 12 at the time. Her other credits include the Twilight films and the indie Camp (2003), in which she slayed Sondheim’s “Ladies Who Lunch” and for which she also scored accolades, such as Independent Spirit Award for “Best Debut Performance.”

Eventually, more and more of my friends, people I trusted–and people with whom I believed shared a certain taste level–were seeing Pitch Perfect. Then, I decided it might  be worth a look.  My plan was to see it when it hit the second-run house in my neighborhood (to call it a $1.00 house anymore would no longer be correct). It played there for several weeks, and just when one of my friends and I decided it would make a great b’day flick for her (toward the end of January), it vanished. Instead, my friend and I saw Broken City, and I rented Pitch Perfect on DVD as soon as I had the chance.  Now, I can’t believe it took so long. I’m sorry I missed it on “the big screen,” as the old saying goes (or used to go), so allow me to share if you have not yet caught up with delightful flick.

Briefly, Pitch Perfect follows the women in college a capella group from one year to the next as it undergoes a change in leadership and the arrival of a gaggle of new students who just don’t quite the fit expectation of slim, conventionally pretty girls who can be easily coaxed into singing the same old songs time after time. That’s not all. These women face an uphill struggle in that they are an anomaly in a male dominated field; moreover, they attend the same school as the top ranked male group, and the “Bellas,” as they are known, have to live down a humiliating showing at an early competition, and when I say humiliating, I mean a disaster of epic proportions.  The key players in this tale include Anna Kendrick, both a former Oscar and Tony nominee,  as Beca, the nominal lead,  a headstrong newcomer who’d rather be a music producer or a d.j. rather than a student at the same university where her father teaches; the aforementioned Rebel Wilson as a Tasmanian transplant who calls herself “Fat Amy”;  Anna Camp (previously seen in The Help, among others) as Aubrey, the uptight priss of the group who, unfortunately, doesn’t do well with stress, and Brittany Snow (red-tressed in a stunning departure from the blonde locks she sported on American Dreams and the 2007 edition of Hairspray) as Chloe, Aubrey’s noticeably cooler bff. Other significant roles are played by Ester Dean, as a none too subtle lesbian named Cynthia-Rose, and Hana Mae Lee, as the barely audible Lilly Onakuramara.

^ Rebel Wilson (Fat Amy): Wilson recently won an MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance. She also scored a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy, and, well good for her. I guess. I happen to think she would have been better positioned as a supporting actress contender since she is not the true lead of Pitch Perfect. My belief  is she would have come much closer to scoring an Oscar nod if the Universal execs had not overplayed their hand on her behalf. She is currently onscreen in the hit Pain and Gain starring Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne Johsnon (aka “The Rock’). Her sitcom pilot, Super Fun Night, has just been picked up by ABC for the 2013/2014 season.

Before I elaborate on what it is I like about Pitch Perfect, allow me to go ahead and list its shortcomings. First, there’s not much originality here as bits and pieces play like, well, a mix-tape of loads of other shows. There’s TV’s Glee, of course, with its backstage look at a high school choir. Again, there’s Rebel Wilson and the whole Bridesmaids connection, including at least one major gross-out moment. The campy cheerleading competition comedy Bring It On shares a couple of plot points (the new leader who struggles to make her own mark; a high-stakes finale) and character types (the edgy chick with “attitude” who has to be talked into joining the group).  It’s also impossible to ignore the love shown to the films of John Hughes, especially The Breakfast Club (like Bring It On and Pitch Perfect, another Universal release). Likewise, as a friend of my observed, the scenes with Elizabeth Banks (who also doubles as the film’s producer) and  John Michael Higgis, as a pair of bickering contest commentators, echo a similar dynamic between Jim Piddock and Fred Willard in Christopher Guest’s Best in Show; indeed, the Guest association is hard to miss since Higgis is a veteran of the celebrated  “mockumentary” filmmaker’s repertory company.  (The screenplay, by the way, is credited to Kay Cannon and is derived the non-fiction book of the same name by Mickey Rapkin,.)

There are other points that give me pause. I think the movie traffics in unflattering stereotypes, especially regarding the lesbian character and Asians. Dean’s Ester Rose is the butt of a few too many gags. Plus, she suffers a potentially serious issue, not necessarily related to her sexuality,  that is tossed aside rather casually after it is used as a punchline. Neither of the two prominently featured Asian characters, Hana Mae Lee as spooky Lilly and Jinhee Jhoung as freshman Beca’s humor-impaired roommate, seem less than fully human though at least the former has the advantage of a few priceless non-sequiturs, but close listening skills are definitely required. Finally, I’ll admit that as funny as the movie is, and it’s often quite funny, that there are probably as many lines that mis-fire as there are those that hit–and a lot of those are spoken by Wilson’s Fat Amy though the actress’s lip-smacking delivery never falters.

^ Anna Camp (Aubrey): This blonde haired, blue eyed actress’s WASPy looks made her a natural to play one of the snooty Junior League types in 2011′s Oscar nominated adaptation of The Help; she’s also a veteran of True Blood and Mad Men.

Now, what do I like so much about this movie, especially in comparison to Bridesmaids?  See, besides the over-the-top gross-out moments in Wiig’s offering, there was also something un-nerving about the characters. They were pathetic, and it was disturbing to see grown women act like, well, children.  Here is where I need to clarify:  I can’t recall whether the ages of the characters (in Bridesmaids) are ever mentioned, but I do know that Wiig and Rudolph were in their late thirties at the time of the film’s release; McCarthy was already forty (per the IMDb). I hate it anymore that so many adult women in TV and movies resemble girls–petty, immature, irresponsible, frivolous, and flighty–and this is a trend I  actually began noticing 20 years ago.

^ When Elizabeth Banks isn’t being mistaken for late night talk show host Chelsea Handler, she’s one of Hollywood’s busiest and most versatile actresses with such credits as The Hunger Games’s Effie Trinket, portraying Laura Bush in Oliver Stone’s W., and guest appearances on 30 Rock and Modern Family.  Banks originally signed on, along with her husband and business partner Max Handleman, to produce Pitch Perfect without a plan to actually appear in the flick; however, after Kristen Wiig (and possibly Amy Poehler) were unavailable to play the part of daffy commentator Gail, Banks decided that assuming the role herself made better business sense than searching for a replacement as she was already with the company on location, thereby minimizing expenses.  She’s delightful in her few scenes, of course, but I also just love her for working so hard to provide such a wonderful showcase for a great group of younger, up and coming actresses. Brava, Elizabeth.

In contrast, the characters in Pitch Perfect are young women who are trying to find, or forge, their identities as adults, and I think that’s touching. The bulk of this idea is played out in the storylines of Kendrick’s Becca and Camp’s Aubrey, both of whom are trying to navigate their own paths in spite of some familiar obstacles:  one has a dad who is a little too close for comfort in addition to a boyfriend whose best intentions are often mis-read as a result of the young woman’s dad-related ambivalence; the other woman has a dad whose standards are so high that it has affected her on multiple levels. (One of her dad’s favorite quotes is, “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of Kuwait.”) Furthermore, even within the group, these two women specifically deal with attempts to make their marks. Becca is the new girl who bucks convention; Aubrey is the leader who is burdened with both  living up to her predecessors and living down her very public disaster. Of course, these issues are not addressed with a great deal of depth, but they, and some of the other scenarios depicted in the film, are quite real for young women, and the actresses (again, starting with Kendrick and Mann) bring a lot of conviction to their roles.

I also like that Snow’s Chloe has such a healthy disposition about her body and sex–oh sure, she still needs to learn a thing or two about boundaries, but, again, she’s young and still learning.  I also think it’s cool that Fat Amy doesn’t back down even when the odds are stacked against her. She just seizes control of any situation and makes it work to her advantage. She will not be silenced or ignored.

Of course, backing up to Snow’s Chloe, I guess her character’s healthy sexuality is contrasted by the cartoonish sexuality of Alexis Knapp’s Staci Conrad, the weakest characterization in the bunch. I guess if there is an upside to Knapp’s character, it is that it in some weird way balances the sexual fixation of Ester Dean’s Cynthia-Rose, thereby showing that just as there are lesbians with strong sexual impulses, there are plenty of hetero girls who behave similarly. Is that a positive message? I can’t say for sure. Luckily, it’s not the primary focus.

^ There are a small handful of men in Pitch Perfect, a couple of whom certainly boast impressive stage credentials. First, is Skylar Astin (above), who plays Becca’s off and on boyfriend, who’s also a member of the school’s unrivaled male accapella group. Astin appeared in the original Broadway cast of the Tony winning Spring Awakening (2006-2007). In the thankless role of Becca’s concerned yet distant dad is Plano’s own John Benjamin Hickey (not pictured), a 2011 Tony winner for Best Featured Actor in the revival of Larry Kramer’s The Normal Heart. Director Jason Moore’s  Broadway credits include the musical Avenue Q., another top Tony winner–for which Moore earned a nod.

You know what else I just love about Pitch Perfect?  I love that it was such a great word-of-mouth hit. Yes, it was generally well-reviewed (no less than David Edelstein of New York included it on his year-end 10 Best List, which I found out about months after the fact), but it was not the box office behemoth that Bridesmaids was. Instead, the $ 17 million production earned a more than respectable, if less than spectacular, 65 million domestically. Not shabby; however, the movie’s real legs were not as evident until it appeared on DVD/Blu-Ray earlier this year. Sales have been so brisk that there have been at least two mentions about it in Entertainment Weekly. Per Universal’s Peter Cramer, the robust home video returns exceed projections based on box office take.  Cramer’s words may very well be among the most refreshingly candid things uttered by a studio head lately.  Oh, and just how brisk are those sales? Again, as reported in EW. as of March, there have been 2.4  million units (DVD/Blu Ray) sold for a whopping 90 million dollars–and counting.  That also includes video-on-demand with Pitch Perfect coming in right behind Universal’s Ted and Bridesmaids, natch.  Once again, those two films were major, major, box office triumphs, so their VOD popularity is fitting and expected. Furthermore, the soundtrack has also sold steadily and has even launched an unlikely hit in Kendrick’s “Cups,” an intriguingly little ditty that lasts only a mere 77 seconds.

I still say that Pitch Perfect should have done a little bit better in the most recent awards derby than it did. I outline some of my main points in the sidebars accompanying many of the pictures in this article.  Besides those considerations, special note should be made of the wonderful team that arranged and/or produced the many musical tracks, re-imagining a bunch of familiar tunes as strictly a capella showpieces.  Nice job, y’all, and another great reason to love Pitch Perfect. Too bad the Academy has currently opted out of the song score and/or adapted score category. Well, it was always a little confusing, I guess.  I also guess that the recent MTV Movie Awards almost, ALMOST correct that shortcoming since the film topped the  “Best Musical Moment” category (the Bellas’ impromptu rendition of “No Diggity”), which also included such crowd-pleasers as Ann Hathaway’s “I Dreamed a Dream”  from Les Misérables and the hunky cast of Magic Mike, including People cover guy Channing Tatum, performing a sexy routine to the campy disco classic, “It’s Raining Men.”

Okay, now comes the bad news. There’s a sequel in the works.  I hate this because Pitch Perfect is, to quote Mary Poppins, “practically perfect,” which means it’s already complete.  Some sequels are worth a look; some even surpass their originals. Most do not. Why mess with perfection?

If you haven’t seen Pitch Perfect yet, maybe this short music video featuring beatbox artist Mike Tompkins, Pitch Perfect cast members (excluding popular Wilson), and a chorus of fans and non-pros will make you reconsider.  The song is “Starships,” originally recorded by Nicki Minaj; I actually like Minaj’s original, but I think this cover-version is pure pop magic. It can brighten my bleakest day, and I think it’s quite a wondrous thing that so many diverse people can be momentarily united by music. Enjoy!

Now, if you like that, go watch the movie. You can thank me later.

Official Elizabeth Banks website: http://elizabethbanks.com/

David Edelstein (New York/NPR) Top 10 of 2012: http://www.vulture.com/2012/11/david-edelstein-top-ten-movies.html

Smith, Grady. “Pitch Perfect Keeps Hitting New High Notes.” Entertainment Weekly. 22 March 2013.

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20683742,00.html

Pitch Perfect sequel: http://insidemovies.ew.com/2013/04/16/pitch-perfect-sequel-2015/

Mia Is Such Sweet Farrow

Mia Farrow on the cover of People 39 years ago: March 4, 1974.

Quick! Who was the subject of the very first People cover story? Why, it was Mia Farrow, of course. Spring of 1974, a whopping 39 years ago. Don’t ask me how/why I actually remember this, but I do, and I’m right.  Mia is the answer to a trivia question. Btw: K.D. Lang is the first cover story on Entertainment Weekly; Tom Hanks & Dan Ackroyd were the first cover story on Premiere. I remember this. I do not need to look it up online. Anyway, when Farrow was on People, it was part of the promotional push for the lavish adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s literary classic The Great Gatsby starring the then hot-hot-hot Robert Redford as the enigmatic Jay Gatsby.  That movie is widely considered a flop though I think its reputation as a stinker has been over-reported, but I won’t go into that except to say that Theoni V. Aldredge deservedly won that year’s Oscar for Best Costumes.  Really, the point of this article is to simply take advantage of all the hype surrounding director Baz Luhrmann’s  super-splashy 3-D version of  Gatsby, starring Leonardo DiCaprio (number two over the weekend with more than 50 million in ticket sales), in order to pay tribute to Farrow, perhaps the most sadly under-appreciated leading film actress of her generation.

The lovely long-haired ingenue of TV’s Peyton Place, already pals with Salvador Dali, would soon marry Frank Sinatra (30 years her senior), hang out with the Beatles and the Maharishi, and make a bold fashion statement–and headlines–by chopping off most of her hair.

Farrow is second-generation Hollywood. Her dad was writer-director John Farrow, a 1956/57 Oscar winner for his Around the World in 80 Days screenplay  (and a Best Director nominee for 1942′s Wake Island); Mia’s mom is lovely Maureen O’Sullivan, perhaps best known as “Jane” from the well-loved Tarzan films (w/Johnny Weissmuller).  Childhood friends included Liza Minnelli, also second-generation Hollywood. Mia’s parents suffered a rocky marriage before John Farrow passed away in early 1963. When she was 18, Mia and her mother not only scored the deal of a lifetime on an apartment overlooking Central Park, they also starred in separate theatrical productions: O’Sullivan in the popular Broadway play Never Too Late (running for over 1,000 performances beginning in 1962), and Farrow in a revival of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest. Soon enough, Mia was auditioning for the role of Liesl in The Sound of Music, alas not to be, though she hit her early career stride when she was cast in the ingenue role of Allison MacKenzie in the long running prime time TV spin-off of Grace Metalious’s best selling Peyton Place, which ran continuously, sometimes as many as three nights a week, for almost five years. The role helped Farrow score her first Golden Globe, for Most Promising Newcomer (for which she tied with Mary Ann Mobley and Celia Kaye); moreover, Peyton Place no doubt paved the way for Farrow’s breakthrough big-screen role in Rosemary’s Baby.

^ Rosemary’s Baby (1968) – Polish director Roman Polanksi made his American debut with the phenomenally successful adaptation of Ira Levin’s best seller about a young woman, the wife of a struggling actor, whose pregnancy has terrifying (satanic) implications.  Rosemary’s Baby shook up the conventions of the typical horror film by focusing on suspense and the psychological aspects of the story rather than graphic depictions of gore and violence. Plus, the spookiness was not situated in a big dilapidated haunted house. Instead it was set in an apartment building in contemporary New York City. Also, there is something disturbing in the  way that occultists are portrayed as everyday folk rather than obviously evil nutjobs.  Farrow was willing to go to the mat for the film, to the degree that as production began to run long, she made the bold choice to drop out of her next project, The Detective starring her then superstar husband Frank Sinatra, who ultimately filed for divorce as a result of Farrow’s defiance.  In spite of the havoc the movie wreaked on her personal life, Farrow’s dedication was not unappreciated by audiences or critics. Writing in the New York Times, Renata Adler praised Farrow thusly:  “Miss Farrow is quite marvelous, pale, suffering, almost constantly on-screen in a difficult role…”   The Hollywood Foreign Press Association followed through with a Golden Globe nomination; however, an Oscar nod was not forthcoming. On the other hand, veteran actress Ruth Gordon,  as one of the improbable neighbors in on the plot against Rosemary, won an Oscar–at last–for Best Supporting Actress. When Gordon, fresh from her victory, spoke to the press the night of the ceremony, she downplayed Farrow’s snub, asserting: “She’ll be back next year. She’s going to win for John and Mary” (Wiley and Bona 427).

^ John and Mary (1969) – It seems odd, almost other-worldy, that in the current era of seemingly unending colossally budgeted comic book epics and a plethora of doomsday scenarios, often in 3-D, a major Hollywood studio, such as 20th Century Fox, would have ever released a character study about a man and a woman who meet in a bar, sleep with each other–without even knowing the other person’s name–and then spend a day actually getting to know each other, but that’s exactly what happened when Fox signed on to distribute this one. I’m sure if it were remade today, these two strangers’ “relationship” would be undone by a twist in which one of them was revealed to be a serial killer, a mad stalker, a spy, or one of the following: vampire/werewolf/zombie/transsexual. Well, despite Ruth Gordon’s optimistic take, John and Mary, no box office biggie on the order of Rosemary’s Baby, did not even secure Farrow an Oscar nod much less a statuette though she and co-star Dustin Hoffman (also hot, hot, hot at the time with Midnight Cowboy) each earned Golden Globe nominations as well as attention from the British Academy. For the latter, Farrow was collectively recognized for John and Mary as well as both Rosemary’s Baby and the controversial The Secret Ceremony opposite Elizabeth Taylor.

Farrow was reportedly approached about playing the role of  Mattie Ross in the hit 1969 version of True Grit, starring John Wayne in an iconic–Academy winning–performance. She turned down the role which eventually went to Kim Darby. Per the IMDb, Farrow claims it was one of the biggest mistakes in her career. (This story is at least partially corroborated on page 128 of Farrow’s What Falls Away.)

For much of the 1970s, after Farrow settled down to raise a family with her second husband, Oscar winning composer-conductor André Previn, she continued to act in projects of varying quality. The Great Gatsby, as noted, was positioned as a blockbuster, but it fell as flat as last New Year’s leftover champagne, or at least that’s the widely held perception. Between 1978 and 1979, Farrow appeared in such high profile offerings as Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile (w/longtime family friend Bette Davis), Robert Altman’s A Wedding, and producer Dino de Laurentiis’s ill-fated remake of Hurricane. During the period, she was often acting onstage, including the leading role in Bernard Slade’s Romantic Comedy. No, really, that’s the name of the play.

Anyway, as the Previn marriage waned, Farrow kept reasonably busy and soon met the man who would change her  personal and professional destinies. I’ll skip over Farrow’s performance in Woody Allen’s  A Midsummer Night Sex Comedy because I wrote about it last year, and I’ll move past Zelig because as good as Farrow is in it, she’s not the draw, the element that gives it its uniqueness.

^ Broadway Danny Rose (1984)  – Farrow’s first great performance in a Woody Allen film was as a tough talking decorator, with mob connections, who’s also the sometime squeeze of a married lounge singer in  Broadway Danny Rose. In this rapid fire 84 minute B & W romp about resiliently optimistic showbiz hopefuls, Farrow is virtually unrecognizable with her mountain of  bleached hair, dark glasses, and thick Jersey accent. Now, skeptics might argue that all those superficial elements are gimmicks that do all of Farrow’s acting for her, but I disagree. First, she still brings smart delivery and emotional shading to the role. In other words, she finds the core of the character and makes her believable even while hidden by, and working against, the obviousness of the costume. (Right? She can’t use her eyes to express emotion.) Furthermore, Allen performs a neat trick late in the film when Farrow’s Tina appears at last without her glasses. The effect is startling, and, fortunately, Farrow has the kind of face, flush as it is with exquisite planes, to hold the camera’s focus. Additionally, Farrow’s characterization is so strong that Allen can film a key scene from quite a stunning distance, and without audible dialogue, and the audience doesn’t miss a beat. Tina is already so vividly rendered that audiences don’t need to see and her hear speak each and every word in order to understand what she’s saying and feeling. That’s magic.  Farrow scored a Golden Globe nod for this one, and no less than the Today Show’s Gene Shalit (as I recall) swooped in to praise Farrow, and other actresses who had given strong comedic performances that year, when Oscar looked elsewhere. The 1984/85 Oscar race spotlighted the Academy at its most earnest and high-minded as the Best Picture race was devoid of anything remotely resembling popular entertainment, and the Best Actress race included three previous Oscar winners (Sally Field, Jessica Lange, and Sissy Spacek) in movies about the struggles of farmers (one during the Great Depression) along with Vanessa Redgrave (another previous winner) and Judy Davis in adaptations of literary works by Henry James and E.M. Forster, respectively. Meanwhile,  Farrow and other top comedy stars of both sexes (Kathleen Turner in Romancing the Stone and Steve Martin in All of Me, to name two) were cast to the sidelines.

^ The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)  – Farrow’s next great role was as a sweet-natured woman struggling through the Great Depression by seeking solace, escape, in the movies. Well, we’ve all been there. Cecilia is a bit of a scatterbrain, and she loses
her waitressing job as a result; plus, her husband is a brute. Over and over again, she takes in the latest flick at her neighborhood movie house. Her presence so moves one of the film’s dashing male characters that he magically walks out of the film and into Cecilia’s life, leaving the rest of the characters in an onscreen limbo. Meanwhile, the actor who plays the character (Jeff Daniels in both instances) is dispatched to handle the matter. It sounds complicated, but Allen makes it fairly easy to follow, and, of course, the whole thing moves at a clip.  Oh, and it’s funny. This was only the second time that Allen did not appear in one his own films. The first was 1978′s starkly solemn Interiors in which there was clearly no place for his familiar nebbish persona.  In The Purple Rose of Cairo, Farrow’s character functions as Allen’s mouthpiece–in the same way that John Cusack would eventually do in Bullets Over Broadway and as Owen Wilson did recently in Midnight in Paris.  Of course, Farrow gets the pathos just right, but she’s also a hoot, an unexpected delight, as she puts a fresh spin on those well-worn Allen cadences. It’s a nifty trick the way she sometimes sounds so much like him. Plus, even with Jeff Daniels in two roles, Farrow has to carry the picture. If the audience doesn’t care about what happens to Cecilia, the movie has no reason to continue. Furthermore, this actress has everything she needs to help sell what Allen has in mind in the final scenes.  Farrow snagged her second consecutive Golden Globe nod for an Allen film, and she’s listed among the honorable mentions in Danny Peary’s Alternate Oscars (276), but Oscar voters faced some tough decisions during the 1985/86 Best Actress race.  This was a race so jam-packed with likely candidates that it was featured on the cover on People in early 1986.  Farrow wasn’t just an also-ran that year, she was an also ran in the same company that included Cher (Mask), Norma Aleandro (The Official Story), and Coral Browne (Dreamchild) and a least a dozen more high profile entries.

^ Mia Farrow (l) in Hannah and Her Sisters  (1986) co-starring Barbara Hershey (center) and Best Supporting Actress winner Dianne Wiest (r). Per Farrow’s memoirs, What Fades Away, Allen presented her with the completed script and told her she could play any of the sisters  she wanted though Hannah is clearly the sturdy pillar of  one of Allen’s typically wealthy Manhattan families. Luckily, that is the role Farrow chose, and the rest is history. Allen even filmed many of the scenes in Farrow’s own apartment with her real-life children often in the background–and her mother on board as Hannah’s mother. Hannah and Her Sisters was clearly Allen’s most acclaimed film of the 1980s as well as a box office hit and a major Oscar contender. As the seemingly perfect yet still anxious and/or vulnerable sister, Farrow makes a strong impression though this is more of an ensemble piece. Even so, Wiest, in the role of the plucky, neurotic sister, gets all the best lines. Farrow was passed over for an Oscar nod, not surprisingly, and she was also overlooked at the Globes though she was a nominee for the British Academy award.

After Hannah and Her Sisters, most of Farrow’s films with Allen were a mixed bag.  I adored the actress’s turn in Radio Days (1987)  as a ditzy cigarette girl who ultimately reigns supreme as a radio star with impossibly refined diction. Once again, Radio Days is a massive ensemble pic, with a cast that includes such notables as (in no particular order) Julie Kavner, Michael Tucker, Wiest (again), Jeff Daniels, Kenneth Mars, William H. Macy, Diane Keaton, Wallace Shawn, and no less than Kitty Carlisle Hart of all people. Allen has written a character that takes full advantage of Farrow’s vast range, but she’s just one among dozens and dozens of actors with speaking parts.

Allen followed Radio Days with the dreadfully serious September (1987), a movie that uneasily blends Chekhovian elements with the sensationalistic slant of the infamous Lana Turner/Cheryl Crane/Johnny Stompanato murder from 1958.  Filmed within the confines of a single set,  September was an unusually–legendarily–troubled-plagued production which Allen repeatedly rewrote, recast, and even refilmed after the project had seemingly wrapped.  Farrow gives her all in the role of a deeply tormented woman whose whole life has been defined–and undone–by a murder case involving her larger than life domineering mother, played by bold and brassy Elaine Stritch.  The latter repeatedly praised Farrow’s performance as Academy Award caliber in scads of TV and print interviews, but the overall effect was too self-conscious, too much of a muddle, to make much of a favorable impression beyond the most stridently loyal fans of either Allen or Farrow.

Farrow was pregnant during the production of Another Woman (1988), which I happen to think is a movie that approaches the level of a true masterpiece. That noted, it’s really Gena Rowlands’s show. It’s her character’s story. Farrow’s part is absolutely essential to the plot, but the role, an enigmatic pregnant woman named ‘Hope,’  is more of a type than a fully developed character.  I aim to write about this one at length one day.

^ Farrow in Allen’s  Alice (1990) -  This is the one performance that absolutely should have garnered Farrow, at the very least, an Oscar nomination. She shines, exquisitely so, in this modern update of, well, Alice in Wonderland. Or something like that. In this case, Alice is an Upper East Side neurotic mess. Is there any other kind in an Allen film? At any rate, Alice is married to successful yet starchy William Hurt, and she does her best to say, do, and buy all the politically correct things. She also knows how to shop at the best stores and pamper herself at the poshest salons, yet, somehow, she feels unfulfilled–and her back hurts. Luckily, a friend recommends an herbalist (Keye Luke) who knows how to blend a remedy for almost any condition. What happens after that is a fantastical journey of self-exploration. Thematically, Alice covers much of the same territory as Another Woman but does so with warmth, whimsy, and wonder. And, oh yes, magic. Thanks to her herbalist’s talents, Alice can become invisible, can fly across the evening sky, and into the past, with the ghost of a long lost love, charming yet just a tad forlorn as played by Alec Baldwin at the peak of his masculine beauty.  Alice also drops her reserve long enough to take a walk on the wild side with Joe Mantegna’s sexy saxophonist.  Allen gives Farrow plenty of leeway to try on a variety of emotions in many scenes; moreover, she gets to evince spectacular emotional changes, sometimes without a lot of fussy camera movement and/or editing. Allen just points the camera at her amazing face, and Farrow lets her talent guide her.  An early encounter with Mantegna, right after Farrow has gulped down one of her herbal mixtures, is breathtaking as it depicts Alice’s gradual transformation from mousy to smoldering.  Just close your eyes and listen to the satisfied purr of her voice.  In his book Alternate Oscars, author Danny Peary “takes away” Kathy Bates’s Oscar for Misery and instead awards it to Farrow: “…[her] best performance to date has never received due recognition” (303).  I love Bates, but I agree with Peary. Farrow  might only be second to Joanne Woodward’s in Mr. and Mrs. Bridge as that year’s cream of the crop. The 1990/91 Oscar lineup also included Angelica Huston (The Grifters), Julia Roberts (Pretty Woman), and Meryl Streep (Postcards from the Edge). Yeah, I know Roberts’s film was an unexpected blockbuster that worked as well as it did because of its leading lady’s big personality and even bigger smile, but, that aside, I don’t think this many years later any of these ladies’ performances register as significant. When was the last time you settled down to watch The Grifters? On the other hand, if I ever turn on my TV, and Alice is playing on one of the movie channels, I stop and watch.  Even though the Academy overlooked her, Farrow did receive a few accolades for Alice, most notably a Golden Globe nod, natch, and Best Actress honors from the National Board of Review. Even if you’re not an Allen fan, I implore you to put this one on your Movie Bucket List.

^ Widows’ Peak (1994) – After a rather public, not to mention devastating and humiliating, breakup with Allen, Farrow found recourse in this delightfully creepy yarn co-written by playwright Hugh Leonard (Da) and co-starring Natasha Richardson (r) and Joan Plowright (l). Farrow, paying tribute to her Irish heritage, portrays the perennial village misfit; Richardson plays a manipulative American newcomer, and Plowright reigns as the domineering dowager. These three women keep trying to top each other in a deadly game of “outplay, outwit, outlast” (like on TV’s Survivor), but there are quite a few laughs–the dark kind–along the way. I remember Farrow visited David Letterman as this movie was being released in the spring of 1994, when Letterman was less than a year into his then “new” home at CBS, and  the host could not praise the movie, or Farrow, enough. (Note: it was the first time Farrow had ever appeared on Letterman at either CBS or NBC, so it was kind of a big deal.) I have to confess that after I saw this movie for the first time, I was so tickled that I was ready to immediately watch it again, and because I was working at the same theater where I saw it, and it was free, I probably did stay and watch it again. In early 1995, as first round Oscar ballots were being marked, no less than Hollywood icon Charlton Heston reportedly lamented the dearth of worthy performances by leading actresses, but Chris Hewitt, writing for Knight-Ridder News Services, responded with an article, carried in the Fort Worth Star Telegram, that praised Farrow in Widow’s Peak as one of the best of the best–along with Jessica Lange (Blue Sky), who was nominated, and Jennifer Jason Leigh (Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle), who, like Farrow, was overlooked yet again.

After Widows’ Peak, Farrow’s big screen output tapered noticeably. She earned good notices in Miami Rhapsody, a saucy Allenesque comedy that featured Antonio Banderas and marked the first collaborative effort of Sex and the City‘s Sarah Jessica Parker and writer-director-producer David Frankel.  Farrow also starred in the disastrous adaptation of Craig Lucas’s quirky play, Reckless. This one was so ill-received that I don’t think it ever made it out of limited NY/LA engagements. She later scored a Golden Globe nomination ( her ninth) for a TV movie about Alzheimer’s, Forget Me Never. She also had a recurring role in Third Watch, which ran on NBC from 1999 to 2005. She also had a jokey bit in the the 2006 remake of The Omen–about another demonic child.

Of course, Farrow is well positioned enough that she does not necessarily work constantly. Well, that’s how it seems from the outside. I do know, however, that the woman is passionate about human rights and has devoted a lot of her time and energy the past few years to various causes, and I applaud her for that.  Mia Farrow has endured a lot of high profile scandals and intense media scrutiny, but in spite of all that, as well as an upbringing seemingly buoyed by wealth and privilege, I’ve always thought of her as basically “good people” and only wish her well.

Okay, still not convinced that this actress hasn’t been given her due?  How about this? Watch any two of the seven movies featured in this article–especially the Allen films–back to back and see what you think after that.  Farrow so thoroughly disappears inside her characters that you might find it hard to believe you’re actually watching the same actress from one flick to the next. How often does that happen? Yeah.

Please feel free to add any comments about your personal fave Farrow performance.

Thanks for your consideration….

Adler, Renata. “Rosemary’s Baby.” New York Times. 13 June 1968. Web. 12 May 2013. http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=EE05E7DF1738E271BC4B52DFB0668383679EDE

Farrow, Mia. What Falls Away: A Memoir. New York: Nan A. Talese, an imprint of Doubleday. 1997.

Farrow and Human Rights: http://www.miafarrow.org/

Farrow at the Internet Movie Database: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001201/

Hewitt, Chris. “Oscar needs glasses: There’s no dearth of actress nominees.” Knight-Ridder News Service reprinted in Fort Worth Star Telegram. (No date available.)

Peary, Danny. Alternate Oscars. New York: Delta, 1993.

Wiley Mason, and Damien Bona. Inside Oscar: The Unofficial History of the Academy Awards, 10th Anniversary Edition.  New York: Ballantine, 1996. Print.

Ray Harryhausen: Master of Marvels

Ray Harryhausen accepting the Gordon Sawyer award at the 1991/92 Academy Awards.

Well, I’m sorry to report that Ray Harryhausen, the legendary maestro of movie special effects, has passed away at the age of 92.  In his lengthy career, Harryhausen racked up several dozen credits as an effects artist, a director,  a producer,  a cinematographer, and even an animator and a sometime actor. He combined a razor sharp intellect with finely-tuned skill and artistic vision to create a very specific kind of cinematic magic–often employing miniatures and stop-motion animation–that captured the imaginations of generations of moviegoers and secured his place in the pantheon of film world giants.  His style was instantly recognizable and often imitated.

One of his first breaks as a feature film “technician” was on 1949′s Oscar winning Mighty Joe Young, about a giant ape. Even though Harryhausen was a member of the recognized team, he did not earn a trophy; during those days, the Oscars in some of the craft categories were not actually awarded to individuals. Instead, they often went to department and/or studio heads.  Harryhausen’s last major credit was 1981′s Clash of the Titans, but by that point, audiences were used to being dazzled by the splashier effects featured in the films of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg; don’t forget, 1981 was was dominated by the blockbuster crowd pleaser Raiders of the Lost Ark, which Lucas co-wrote and co-produced, and Spielberg directed. That noted, I detect Harryhausen’s influence on the thrilling effect of the Stained Glass Knight in 1985′s Young Sherlock Holmes, which Spielberg produced. Of course, Harryhausen’s work impacted leagues of film geeks.

Movie fans of my generation, and even generations both before and after mine, no doubt have their favorite Harryhausen moments and memories.  For some, that might be One Million Years B.C.;  for others, it might be The 3 Worlds of Gulliver. I actually saw both in theaters as a child.  Of course, the three Sinbad movies have their followers as well; however, of all Harryhausen’s films, nothing compares to Jason and the Argonauts from 1963, loosely based on the tale of the golden fleece from Greek mythology. I saw this movie multiple times as a child. My guess is that it was frequently re-released for Saturday kiddie matinees, etc. On a side note, I do miss the days when popular movies were often re-released or “brought back” as I often heard the practice called.

The classic creatures from Ray Harryhausen’s masterpiece, Jason and the Argonauts (clockwise from left): Talos, the battling skeltons, the hydra, and a harpie.

Of course, children are blessed with the ability to accept actors’ performances without a lot of fuss. There is little or no distinction between performer and character.  What this means is that as a child, I was spared any awareness that much of the acting in Jason and the Argonauts is pretty awful. Who knows why, but Todd Armstrong, who plays Jason, was actually dubbed.  The dubbing isn’t badly executed, but it is a bit distracting at times.  Was Steve Reeves busy that year, I wonder? Still, the spectacular set pieces are the draw in what Harryhausen reportedly considered his finest effort.  To clarify, Harryhausen did not direct the film (that credit goes to Don Chaffey); instead, he co-produced and essentially designed it though, as pointed out by John Landis on the DVD featurette, Harryhausen is very much considered the auteur, the author, of the piece.

So, what’s your favorite sequence in Jason and the Argonauts? I know you must have one, or you would still not be reading. Michael’s fave is the one with the giant statue of Talos.  I know some people marvel at the hydra or the harpies. As a youngster, I was most fascinated by the appearance of Triton as he emerged from the sea in all his  larger than life mer-man glory. I accepted this bit of tomfoolery at absolute face value.  Of course, composite effects shots with scale and/or forced perspective almost always play better on big movie screens in darkened auditoriums than they do at home on noticeably smaller screens, so this one has lost a little of its charm.

The sequence that has not lost a whit of its charm is, of course, the attack of the skeletons and their swords, which is arguably the most celebrated feat in the movie. I love that my 1998 model DVD features an interview with Harryhausen in which he explains some of the logistics of building, animating, and filming the stop-motion miniature skeletons.  He was likely in his late 70s at the time, but even 30+ years after completing Jason, he still vividly recalls all kinds of details. Fascinating stuff.  Here’s a quote I found online from Harryhausen’s book, co-written with Tony Dalton,  An Animated Life.

• Each of the model skeletons was about eight to 10 inches high, and six of the seven were made for the sequence. The remaining one was a veteran from [The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad], slightly repainted to match the new members of the family. When all the skeletons have manifested themselves to Jason and his men, they are commanded by Acetes to “Kill, kill, kill them all”, and we hear an unearthly scream. What follows is a sequence of which I am very proud. I had three men fighting seven skeletons, and each skeleton had five appendages to move in each separate frame of film. This meant at least 35 animation movements, each synchronised to the actors’ movements. Some days I was producing less than one second of screen time; in the end the whole sequence took a record four and a half months.

As incredible as this sounds, Harryhausen is actually being a bit modest,  skipping over some of the laborious effort that went into both filming the miniatures in stop motion and then combining that footage with the intricately choreographed live-action footage with actors. I think this many years later it’s still breathtaking. Oh sure, visual effects have made huge technological advances, but are they necessarily better on a visceral level? Do they necessarily inspire that sense of  “How did they do that” awe? These days, most often we know how they did it: digitally with a green screen.  I was suitably impressed with some of Life of Pi‘s ravishing, and Oscar winning, visuals, but I was not left with a sense of wonder, yet I can watch Jason fight those skeletons for days.

Some final thoughts. Despite some obviously mis-matched shots, Jason and the Argonauts, lensed in Italy (as any number of gladiator pics  of the era were), is often flat-out gorgeous. Excellent eye candy and not a whole lot more.  Plus, no less than frequent Hitchcock collaborator Bernard Herrmann composed the score, which is an automatic plus for any film. The cast also includes quintessential 1960s sexy screen sirens, Bond girl Honor Blackman (as Herra) and stunning Nancy Kovack, who frequently made the rounds of TV sitcoms back in the day (often cast as exotic types) as a less than Medea-esque Medea. She looks great and has a whole lot less baggage than previous incarnations.

No, Ray Harryhausen had nothing to do with Otto Preminger’s Anatomy of a Murder; however, influential opening credit and poster designer Saul Bass is being celebrated as today’s Google Doodle, so that’s cool. Bass was born on May 8, 1920; he died in 1996. I’m a huge fan of his work which also includes designs for such Hitchcock classics as Vertigo, Psycho, and North by Northwest as well as Preminger’s The Man with the Golden Arm and Exodus, and a host of other biggies, including West Side Story, Spartacus, and It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, among many many many many others. Bass’s bold graphics are as easily recognizable as Harryhausen’s signature stop-motion creatures, and both men were more or less working at their peaks during the same era. The Google short film is a hoot, and I’d rather save time and stay current by squeezing in a mention here. (Scroll down to the end of this  page for a peek.)

Though there were no “Special Visual Effects”  Oscars for Jason and the Argonauts–not in the same year that gave moviegoers The Birds and Cleopatra, which actually won the trophy (also filmed in Italy), Harryhausen was recognized by the Academy later  in life with the Gordon Sawyer Award honoring individuals “in the motion picture industry whose technological contributions have brought credit to the industry.” Again, by the time he was finally lauded by his peers in the Academy, Harryhausen’s best work was long behind him. It seems absurd that someone of his stature had to wait so long for recognition (almost 30 years after Jason, say).  Oh sure, I guess better late than never and all that,  and he was honored more than once at the Saturn awards (besides having a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame), but there’s another point worth making in that awards are not the end all-be all because what matters most of all is the work, its lasting value, and the joy it brings.

Thanks, Ray…

Official Ray Harryhausen website:

http://www.rayharryhausen.com/index.php

Harryhausen book excerpt: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2003/dec/20/featuresreviews.guardianreview16

Gordon Sawyer award at Oscars.org: http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/about/awards/sawyer.html

Harryhausen at the Internet Movie Databse:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0366063/?ref_=sr_1

Saul Bass at the IMDb:http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000866/?ref_=sr_1

(Check out today’s Saul Bass inspired Google Doodle here.)

What the F-65?

Say ‘Goodbye’ to all of this…and ‘Hello’ to oblivion.

- Richard O’Brien as Riff Raff in The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Okay, congratulations to Tom Cruise for yet again defying the naysayers. Cruise’s Oblivion opened over the weekend and handily blew away the competition, earning 37 million dollars–more than double the #2 movie, 42, which earned 17 million. Not bad. Cruise’s sci-fi odyssey has already earned over 100 million worldwide, but it’s no longer surprising when big-budget action spectacles do blockbuster business with international audiences. Indeed, film producers and studio execs count on it. Just barely more than a year ago, Cruise was riding high on the wave of success thanks to the phenomenal comeback known as Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol; however, he has also suffered some setbacks, both personally and professionally, in the interim.  Regarding the latter, he earned wonderful reviews for a standout supporting performance in last summer’s  tribute to 80s “hair bands,” Rock of Ages, but the movie, overall, was panned by the critics (deservedly so), and audiences stayed away in droves. The scenes with Cruise were like a whole different film from the rest of the tacky formulaic drivel. He not only had the swagger, he also demonstrated some surprisingly strong pipes.  (Michael joked that Cruise’s portrayal suggested what Jim Morrison might have been like if he had not died at such a relatively young age.) No matter,  Rock of Ages was a colossal failure.  Jack Reacher, his holiday offering based on Lee Child’s best selling series of mystery novels about an unlikely soldier-of-fortune, initially divided Reacher fans, many of whom thought Cruise was pretty much miscast from top to bottom. Even so, Cruise had Child’s full endorsement, the reviews were better than those for Rock of Ages, and while Jack Reacher was no blockbuster, it eked out a respectable 13 week run in the theatres and, once again, performed much better overseas than in the states.

Still, if you think this article is a love-letter to Cruise, you’re mistaken. Did I enjoy Oblivion? Of course, I did, but almost in spite of Cruise rather than because of him. Based on an unpublished graphic novel by director Joseph Kosinski and Arvid Nelson. the story is set in 2077, several decades after Earth is attacked and pillaged by so-called scavengers. Now, as the last remaining earthlings prepare to start all over on Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, Cruise’s Jack Harper dutifully monitors the harvesting of Earth’s water supply. He does this with the aid of a fantastic flying contraption (a rather phallic marriage between a helicopter and a motorcycle), a host of drones (talk about timely), and a female partner (played by Andrea Riseborough, above).  But wait: aren’t Oscar winners Morgan Freeman and Melissa Leo featured in the trailer? Well, sure. Now, go see the movie because that’s all of the plot I’m divulging. I’ll be frank. Oblivion doesn’t serve an airtight script, but I enjoyed it anyway because it’s suspenseful and not ALL the major plot developments are given away in the trailer. Plus, the story is rather thoughtful in its own way. Still, that’s not even the thing I love most about it. What the movie is…..is visually arresting–and for good reason. Kosinski filmed sections of the movie in Iceland to take advantage of the island-nation’s richly photogenic terrain and its stunningly beautiful skies, made possible by the fact that summer sunlight lasts for up to 24 hours. This is no dank noir-ish downer, but a brilliantly gleaming slice of sc-fi heaven, and that’s especially worth noting for two great reasons. 1. The cinematographer is the great Claudio Miranda, who just won an Oscar for lensing Life of Pi. 2. The movie is among the first to be produced using the new Sony F65 4K digital cinematography camcorder. I’m not even sure I can explain how the camera works, but I don’t think that even matters. What matters is that the images are super-sharp. I’m pretty sure I read somewhere that the camera is good for shooting in IMAX format. Good to know. Oh well. Even the lesser reviews have given the movie props for its “look.” The Hollywood Reporter praised it as “an absolutely gorgeous film” that. like Miranda’s Oscar winner,  seamlessly meshes “live photography and effects.” Plus, some of the fans have been posting on the IMDb about how the nighttime pool scene is especially enticing, aided as it was by the score credited to French duo M83.

Still not enticed? Maybe the following featurette will prompt you to reconsider. Maybe not.  Well, I’m just glad I got to see Oblivion on an impressively large screen at one of my not-so-neighborhood theaters. Here’s the deal. I wanted to see the movie because I’m all about all things Tom Cruise, but I was so dazzled  by the visuals that I had to stick around long enough to see the closing credits as the movie had no opening credits. I immediately recognized cinematographer Miranda’s name because he’d just won the Oscar. That further sparked my interest to learn more. When I came home, I started reading about the making of the film, and I was intrigued to find out about the F-65 and some other cool things, and that’s what I want to share about why you should say ‘Hello’ to Oblivion….

Thanks for your consideration…

Oblivion at Box Office Mojo: http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=oblivion.htm

Oblivion review in the Hollywood Reporter:  http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movie/oblivion/review/435551

Kosinski on shooting in Iceland: http://herocomplex.latimes.com/movies/oblivion-cruise-kosinski-set-for-hero-complex-imax-screening/

F-65 at Creative Planet Network: http://www.creativeplanetnetwork.com/dv/feature/4k-future-oblivion-captured-sony%E2%80%99s-f65-cinealta-camera/62146

Cruise’s Bubble Ship in the Los Angeles Times:   http://herocomplex.latimes.com/movies/oblivion-tom-cruise-bubble-ship-spacecraft-design-form-follows-function/#/7

Cruise, Kosinski, and Freeman in the Los Angeles Times: http://herocomplex.latimes.com/video/oblivion-tom-cruise-joseph-kosinski-on-partnership-morgan-freeman/

More cool behind the scenes stuff: http://nofilmschool.com/2013/04/oscar-winning-claudio-miranda-oblivion-sony-f65/

In Appreciation: What Remains…

I was quite saddened to hear about the death of the great actor-comedian Jonathan Winters a few days ago (04/11). He was a true genius, a giant, but, of course, his was not the only high-profile entertainment related death in the past week or so.  Famed movie critic Roger Ebert passed away earlier in the month after a long, brave, and quite public battle with cancer.  Ebert’s death is another reminder that movie critics, whether in print or on the air, are no longer as esteemed as they once were. After all, how many can you name? These days, critics don’t wield the same power that they used to, thanks mainly to the Internet, in which word of mouth on a film spreads instantaneously, and bloggers specifically though I usually don’t bother with reviewing current movies too much, except during awards season, but that’s a different story.  Anyway, RIP, Roger.

^ Jonathan Winters (1925-2013)

Winters, on the other hand, was a personal fave.  I used to love watching him on all those TV variety shows, game shows, and talk shows in the 1960s and 1970s on up through the 1980s, I guess.  I’ll tell you what. I had the  pleasure, or luck, of standing in line next to him one day several years ago at a gift shop in Montecito, CA. He was  dapper (I even think he wore an ascot), and, yes, reserved. I was in absolutely in awe of him, but I absolutely did not stare, nor did I initiate conversation. He had a huge presence, and I could tell he just wanted to tend to his business without a lot of fuss. I haven’t met that many celebrities in my life,  but I have met a few. Some of them, John Waters especially, really enjoy interacting with fans. Kathy Bates was also an engaging woman; however, Winters was not like that. Well, as I said: he was a genius.  Even so, in spite of all his accolades, including an Emmy (for his supporting role in the Randy Quaid sitcom Davis Rules), a Golden Globe nomination, a Golden Laurel nod, a TV Land “Pioneer” Award, a Lifetime Achievement honor from the American Comedy Awards, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Winters was never nominated for an Oscar. Well, of course, not every talented person who works in front or behind a camera earns Oscar recognition.

Still, Winters did have the distinction of appearing in two big hits that were also major Oscar contenders:   1966′s The Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming earned 4 nods, including Best Picture and Best Actor (Alan Arkin); 1963′s It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World received 6 nods, nothing for Best Picture; however, Winters was, as noted, nominated for a Golden Globe.  Not bad, not bad at all, Of course, an entertainer of Winters’s stature hardly needs validation from the Academy, but knowing his work is somehow part of the Academy’s honor roll is a nice touch. The nicer touch is that his work remains, and we can watch Winters on YouTube and on DVD; plus, we know that he influenced, and still influences, many younger comedians and/or actors, most spectacularly I would say, Robin Williams with whom he worked on TV’s Mork and Mindy back in the day. Thanks, Jonathan, and rest in peace.

^ Annette Funicello (1942-2013)

Earlier in the week, on April 8, “America’s Sweetheart” Annette Funicello passed away at the age of 70. Like Ebert, Funicello had also braved a long and public health crisis. In her case, it was multiple sclerosis.  Funicello was only 70, younger than my mother, but she’d been in the public consciousness almost all of her life, beginning with her stint as one of the Mouseketeers in the original incarnation of Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse Club.  Per the IMDb and other recent reports, Funicello was scouted for the series by no less than the man himself, and when the series was over, the perky teen star was offered a contract to keep working for Disney, which she did–at least for awhile.

As a blossoming young woman, she reinvented herself by co-starring with Philly pop-crooner Frankie Avalon in a series of so-called Beach Party movies released by Samuel Z. Arkoff and James H. Nicholson’s cut-rate American International Pictures in the swingin’ 60s. Those films, which capitalized on both the surfing craze and the rock-n-roll movement, were nothing more than mindless fluff about teenagers, presumably college students, who hung out at the beach, danced, sang, flirted, broke-up, made-up, and engaged in all kinds of improbable shenanigans. Though the series featured lots of curvy girls in bikinis, and cute bare-chested guys, their sexual thrills were pretty tame compared to a lot of offerings from the same era–and definitely compared to today’s sexy flicks. And that’s not a judgment. I merely want to make a point.  To say the critics hated the Beach Party movies would be an understatement, but kids loved them. I know because I watched them anytime I had the chance. That’s the thing. The movies were more childlike than anything else. Real college students of the era probably had better things to do than worry about Annette and Frankie, so the flicks’ real appeal was likely to the preteen set.  Anyway, those films obviously made money, or Arkoff and company would not have kept making more of them, not to mention a host of clones.  Still, Frankie and Annette were always fun to watch, and that was enough for a time (or for the times). Of course, there really isn’t a such thing as an endless summer, so even when she could no longer convincingly play a big-haired teen, Funicello frequently appeared on scads of TV shows and eventually became the TV spokesperson for Skippy brand peanut butter, and that was all good because who wouldn’t trust America’s sweetheart?

Like Winters, Funicello was a one-time Golden Laurel nominee, and she has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  Her filmography also includes one–minor–Oscar contender: 1961′s Babes in Toyland. Disney’s first live action fantasy-musical, based on Victor Herbert and Glen MacDonough’s  1932 operetta, pairs Funicello with dreamy Tommy Sands and also stars Ray Bolger, Ed Wynn, Tommy Kirk, and a very young Ann Jillian. Though a reported box-office flop, Babes in Toyland nonetheless secured Oscar nods for Bill Thomas’s colorful costumes and George Bruns’s score. It was also a Golden Globe nominee (for Best Musical/Comedy) as well as a WGA nominee (Ward Kimball and Lowell S. Hawley); the soundtrack was Grammy nominated as well. Not bad. Funicello also starred in Disney’s popular The Shaggy Dog, starring Fred MacMurray; she also sang on the soundtrack for 1961′s The Parent Trap, Oscar nominated for Best Editing and Best Sound.

In the late 1980s, Funicello and Avalon reteamed for one last Beach Party extravaganza: Back to the Beach. Two years later, the duo enjoyed a cameo in one of my all-time favorite guilty pleasures, but, I’m getting way ahead of myself. In the meantime, rest in peace, dear Annette.

^ Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (1927-2013)

Finally, the passing that most stunned me was that of someone much less known than Ebert, Winters, or Funicello, and that is the great novelist and screenwriter, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala.  Who? Jhabvala, hardly a household name, was one of three key players in what was once known as Merchant-Ivory Productions. I know, right? You think it should read “Ivory Merchant,” but I digress. At any rate, the trio  of producer Ismail Merchant (born in India), director James Ivory (born in America), and screenwriter Jhabvala (born in Germany) began making films in the 1960s with the adaptation of Jhabvala’s own novel, The Householder (1963), followed by Shakespeare Wallah (1965). By the 1970s, the trio was winning raves for the likes of such indie offerings as Roseland, set in Manhattan’s famed ballroom (with a cast that includes one-time Oscar winner Teresa Wright, along with Lou Jacobi, Geraldine Chaplin, Christopher Walken, still largely unknown outside of New York, and Helen Gallagher, an Emmy winner for her work on Ryan’s Hope);  The Europeans, starring Lee Remick in an adaptation of Henry James’s novel, arrived in 1979 with costumes–by Judy Moorcroft–worthy of an Academy nomination .  By the 1980s, Merchant-Ivory was enjoying a nice long run as critics’ darlings and specialty house faves, what with the likes of Heat and Dust, starring Julie Christie in an adaptation of Jhabvala’s own Booker prize winning novel, and The Bostonians, another Henry James adaptation that boasted a bold–and Oscar nominated–performance by no less than Vanessa Redgrave; the cast also included Christopher Reeve, Linda Hunt, Jessica Tandy, and the formidable Nancy Marchand.

The Merchant-Ivory films were generally celebrated for their “tastefulness,” for attracting respected acting talent, for seemingly rich and authentic costume/production design on meager budgets (frequently netting Oscar nods and/or wins), and for Jhabvala’s wonderfully economical screenplays drawn from literary classics (especially E.M. Forster and Henry James).  Now, it is true that Jhabvala did not write every single movie released under the Merchant-Ivory banner. It is also true that, even though she was widely regarded as essential to the outfit’s success, she never achieved full-parity with the two males, that is, the company remained Merchant-Ivory rather than Merchant-Ivory-Jhabvala. On the other hand, it’s also true that with all their team’s success stories, Jhabvala achieved something that neither Merchant nor Ivory were able to do: she actually won Oscars for two of the trio’s major Academy Award contenders…

^ Jhabvala won her first Oscar for 1986′s A Room with a View (which seemed to play forever, locally, at the Inwood theater), adapted from E.M. Forster’s comedy of manners involving British tourists in Florence.  The film’s romantic leads are played by Julian Sands (l) and Helena Bonham Carter (r) while the supporting cast includes such vets as Judi Dench, Denholm Elliott, and Maggie Smith. It also includes one of Daniel Day Lewis’s earliest film performances. A Room With a View garnered 8 Oscar nods, including Best Picture, Best Director (Ivory), Best Supporting Actress (Smith), and Best Supporting Actor (Elliott). Of those, statuettes were ultimately awarded to Jhabvala for her screenplay and for the film’s costume and production design teams. The movie also earned accolades from, among others, the National Board of Review and the British Academy of Film and Television.

Between 1986 and 1992, Merchant-Ivory released a handful of films, most notably Maurice (pronounced Morris), based on a posthumously published E.M. Forster homoerotic love story. Maurice starred James Wilby, Hugh Grant, and Rupert Graves. Jhabvala did not pen the screenplay, but she was back on board for the production of 1990′s Mr. and Mrs. Bridge, based on two semi-autobiographical novels by Evan S. Connell about growing up amid conservative affluence in Kansas City Missouri during the 1930s and 1940s. The title characters were portrayed by longtime real-life couple, and acting giants, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodard; the latter reaped a well-deserved Best Actress nod for her performance, which I thought approached perfection, but she lost to Kathy Bates (Misery).  After seeing Mr. and Mrs. Bridge, which was partially lensed on location in Kansas City, I decided had to visit the city for myself to see if it was/is as beautiful as it is depicted in the film. It took more than a decade, but I was not the least bit disappointed.

Jhabvala claimed her second Academy Award for 1992′s Howards End, another Forster adaptation that covers class consciousness and family loyalty.  Merchant-Ivory vets Helena Bonham Carter (top right), Vanessa Redgrave, and Rupert Graves were joined by Emma Thompson and Anthony Hopkins, fresh from his Oscar victory for The Silence of the Lambs. The movie was a huge art-house hit, once again enjoying a healthy run at the Inwood theatre before an expanded awards season run the following year. It earned 9 Oscar nods, including Best Picture, Director (Ivory, again), and Supporting Actress (Redgrave). Thompson won Best Actress, and besides the award for Jhabvala, the film also secured a win for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration (Luciana Arrighi and Ian Whitttaker).

^ Remains of the Day (1993): The last of the Merchant-Ivory group’s trio of Best Picture nominees is also perhaps its most emotionally devastating, thanks to the splendid, and Oscar nominated, leading performances by Anthony Hopkins (l) and Emma Thompson (r). Based on the Booker prize winning novel by Kazuo Ishiguro, the story examines the increasing tension between household staff members and the mighty, if fading, aristocracy at a magnificent estate at the dawning of World War II. The top-notch supporting cast includes Hugh Grant, Christopher Reeve, James Fox, Ben Chaplin, and Lean Headey. Oh, this one is so good that it hurts.  Again, it scored a bunch of Oscar nominations, 8 total including Best Picture, Director (Ivory), Best Adapted Screenplay (Jhabvala), and the aforementioned Hopkins and Thompson; however, this time the film failed to win a single award as it faced tough competition in key categories from the likes of Schindler’s List, The Piano, and even The Age of Innocence. Still, Jhabvala’s 2 for 3 track record with the Academy is most impressive.

After the release of The Remains of the Day, the Merchant-Ivory group never again achieved another breakout success though each of the films has its own admirers: Jefferson in Paris (1995) starred Nick Nolte as, well, you know, and Thandie Newton as Sally Hemings; Surviving Picasso (1996) featured a lesser Anthony Hopkins performance but served as marvelous showcase for beautiful Natasha McElhone; The Golden Bowl (2000) arrived with an all-star cast that included Uma Thurman, Kate Beckinsale, Angelica Huston and Nolte. One of my best friends heralds it as among the very best of the Henry James adaptations. Le Divorce  (2003) was a rare contemporary outing starring Kate Hudson and Naomi Watts. I think the M-I influence can be seen in such varied movies as The Painted Veil (2006), Letters to Juliet (2010), and even The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012). What these films share with the M-I predecessors, besides exceptional performances (especially by top-tier actresses),  period finery and/or  scenic locations, are the recurring themes of love, loss, regret, happiness, cultural contrasts, and class consciousness.

I was always fascinated by the Merchant-Ivory people. They managed to make movie after movie, year after year, through five decades; some were hits, others not so much, but the team always found money and talent for their projects; moreover, as already noted, their movies were reportedly made on micro-budgets, yet they always managed a lot of bang for their bucks. Ismail Merchant, who passed away in 2005,  had a reputation as a marvellous chef who often cooked splendid meals for cast and crew; he and Ivory were personal as well as professional partners,  and the two of them along with Jhabvala, also married, reportedly lived and worked in the same brownstone in New York City. I can’t find the article in which I first read that, but I think it was in the same piece that Jhabvala offered some advice that any screenwriter needs to know, which is that writing novels is art while writing screenplays is craft. I understood it as soon as I read it, and with Jhabvala boasting prestigious awards for both her novels and her movie scripts (not to mention her longevity), I took her words, so to speak, to heart. Good call, Ruthie.

Thanks….

 

“The Something of the Something”

Well, I won’t be going to watch the mammoth box office smash Oz the Great and Powerful (200 million + domestically…and counting) anytime soon, and not just because I’m hooked, almost as much as anybody can be, on the 1939 musical adaptation of Frank L. Baum’s original, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (simply retitled The Wizard of Oz for film) though there’s always that, of course. Furthermore, I hate to say it because I’m generally a fan of James Franco, as the new film’s titular wizard, but after repeated viewings of the trailer, I just think he looks miscast. Woefully miscast. Still, that’s not my main issue. Now, I want to be perfectly clear about something. I well understand that I should not criticize a movie I have not seen, so, okay, I cannot criticize it per se; however, I do have one major issue with this new film, and it’s a biggie.

To clarify, this new Oz film is set many years before either Baum’s original novel, published in 1900, or the classic 1939 adaptation. Reportedly, and I’m referring to various articles I read during the pre-opening publicity blitz, the movie borrows bits and pieces from Baum’s initial book as well as its many sequels. Okay, so far, so good. Additionally, it includes multiple allusions unique to the 1939 film (obvious to anyone who has seen the trailer), and that’s the crux of the problem to me. Specifically, in Baum’s original, Dorothy’s magical journey and the land of Oz itself are absolutely presented as real events and places. She does not wake up two hours later to discover it was all only a dream, yet that is exactly what happens in the famous film version starring the incomparable Judy Garland.  Her version of Oz, which sometimes varies from Baum’s, is just a way for her subconscious mind to deal with some of her anxieties, and many of the major players in her dreamworld have clear correlations to the people in her waking life. Done!  In that case, it makes no sense to me that that so much of the new Oz movie, which is NOT presented as a dream, in keeping with Baum’s original, should look so much like the dream of girl for whom Oz only existed as an imaginary place. What’s up with that? Why, for example, does the new film even ape the earlier offering’s style choice of opening with an extended sequence in sepia tones before switching to breathtaking color once the action shifts to the magical land of Oz?

Is it simply a misguided attempt to pay homage to classic Americana, a rip-off, or  just more evidence of Disney’s greed? To clarify, I sometimes think the people who run the Disney conglomerate won’t be happy till they own pretty much the whole worldwide entertainment industry. To clarify, the 1939 film was an MGM production, but that didn’t stop Disney from trying its hand at a sequel in 1985. Now, by being careful in what it chose to “borrow” from the previous movie, Disney has its own Oz franchise–to go along with its recently acquired Star Wars franchise. See what I mean? Isn’t it enough that Disney has decades and decades worth of classic animated films and theme parks to generate revenue? Why does there always have to be more–especially when “more” often means “somebody else’s”?

Oh well, hey, remember a number of years ago when there was much ado about striking similarities or coincidences between the 1939 Wizard of Oz and Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon album (from 1973)? I read all about it at the time, but I never sought the experience myself. I mean, it was interesting…but not THAT interesting.  Well, along those same lines, probably going back as far as 1994, maybe 1996, I have long seen an almost eerie connection between The Wizard of Oz, a 1939 Best Picture nominee, and, oh yes, The Silence of the Lambs, the 1991 Best Picture winner. Go head, laugh;  snicker if you must. I have. Indeed, I have even joked that they were actually  the same movie.  Before you read any further, I want to add that I never read another article on this subject, and that these ideas are all uniquely mine as far as I know. I have shared some of this with friends off and on for lo these many years, but this is the first time I have ever attempted to commit them to some kind of text.

I think you will find this quite amusing if you’re willing to just go with it….

Shall we begin?

The first time the audience sees Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland) in The Wizard of Oz (1939), she is running–outdoors.

The first time audiences see Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) in The Silence of the Lambs (1991), she is running–outdoors.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. This is all a big coincidence, right? Well, consider the following:

• In The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy Gale is an orphan being raised by relatives (Aunt Em and Uncle Henry) on a farm.
• In The Silence of the Lambs, Clarice Starling, now grown, was orphaned as a child and  briefly lived with relatives (cousins) on, yes, a farm. Okay, maybe it was a ranch. Whatever.

Oh, and since it’s hard for me to write about movies without referring to the Oscars, please, don’t forget that Judy Garland won a special “juvenile performance” Oscar for The Wizard of Oz (and making cinematic history with her glorious rendition of “Over the Rainbow”) while Foster likewise captured the 1991 Best Actress Oscar for The Silence of the Lambs.

Now, where were we? Want more?

• Significantly, Dorothy Gale runs away from her aunt and uncle’s farm  just as Clarice ran away from the farm where she lived.
• Additionally, animals figure in both characters’ plans to run away. Dorothy’s dog, Toto, is seized by meanie Elmira Gulch as punishment for what she believes is an outright attack by the little dog. When Toto gets away from Miss Gulch, he returns to Dorothy who believes she has no other choice but to save Toto (from being seized yet again) and herself by running away from the farm forever. In Clarice’s case, her attempt to run away is thwarted when she tries to save just one lamb from the ranch’s springtime slaughter.

Here’s where it gets a little more interesting:

• In the dream sequence that forms the basis for most of action in The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy revisits the trauma of her dog being taken away from her. In her dream, a witch, who looks a lot like Elmira Gulch (both played by brilliant character actress Margaret Hamilton), snatches Dorothy’s dog away from her–and threatens to kill it.
• In The Silence of the Lambs, Clarice Starling revisits the trauma of trying to save one helpless lamb’s life as she fights to save one particular young woman’s life from a stark raving serial killer (masterfully played by Ted Levine); there’s also a little dog involved too.

Still intrigued? Consider some of the other parallel structure of the stories.

• After being transported via tornado to Oz’s Munchkinland, Dorothy incurs the wrath of the Wicked Witch of the West (note the alliteration) by first inadvertently killing the witch’s sister, and then finding herself in possession of the dead witch’s magical ruby slippers. In order to both get back home and escape the Wicked Witch of the West’s treachery, Dorothy seeks the counsel of a mysterious, powerful, shady, and brilliant wizard; eventually, Dorothy comes face-to-face with the witch in her spooky lair and destroys the witch herself.
• As an FBI trainee, Clarice Starling is given an opportunity to help advance her career by helping a senior agent in the bureau.  In short: Clarice is asked to help put an end to a treacherous serial killer named Buffalo Bill (note the alliteration) by first seeking the counsel of a mysterious, powerful, shady, and brilliant–and deadly–doctor, Hannibal Lecter; eventually, Clarice comes face-to-face with Buffalo Bill in his spooky lair and kills him herself.

While in Munchkinland, Dorothy interacts with the official Munchkin coroner who pronounces the Wicked Witch of the East, “not only merely dead,” but also “really most sincerely dead.” Similarly, in The Silence of the Lambs, Clarice Starling interacts with the staff of a funeral home and FBI officials to conduct an autopsy on a recently discovered body that is also most sincerely dead.

How about this?

^ Remember how in The Wizard of Oz Dorothy, along with her three companions (the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion), slowly proceeds down a long dark  corridor, accompanied by emotionally stirring music, as she prepares to meet the Wizard??  Now, in the clip (below)  from The Silence of the Lambs, notice how Dorothy, I mean, Clarice, proceeds down a long dark corridor as she prepares to meet Dr. Lecter. Notice how even though Clarice is technically alone, she passes three–three–of Dr. Lecter fellow inmates in the corridor before reaching his cell.

Now, here’s the best part…

When Dorothy finally sees the wizard, he’s represented as, well, a dramatically lit giant talking head, consistent with at least one of the wizard character’s manifestations in Baum’s original text.

In a most intriguing directorial choice by Oscar winner Jonathan Demme, Dr. Hannibal Lecter, played by Anthony Hopkins, yet another Oscar winner, is most often framed in tight, tight, closeups, thereby rendering him barely more than a dramatically lit giant talking head. Coincidence?

Oh, and what about this tidbit?

In The Wizard of Oz, the villain of the piece (the Wicked Witch of the West), surrounds herself with weird flying creatures. In this case, it’s those creepy winged monkeys.

In The Silence of the Lambs, the villain of the piece (Jame Gumb, aka Buffalo Bill, played by Ted Levine) surrounds himself with weird flying creatures. In this case, it’s those creepy “Death’s-head” moths.

^ “I’ll get you, my pretty.”

Well, that’s just all of it for now. I could go on with another 2-3 examples, but I’ll stop and let you recover first.  I hope one day to write a book about this–or maybe just a fancy-shmancy academic article.  Obviously, more research is needed, and that takes time and patience; after all, there’s much consideration to be given about the ways in which the texts differ. I think it would be cool to do a video compilation in order to further demonstrate my points. That also takes time, maybe money. One thing I also need to do is to perfect a thesis statement of some kind in order to give this exercise context, or gravitas, so it’s not random and clever, but the idea still fascinates me.

Dr. Lecter (to Clarice): “What does he do, this man you seek…he covets.”
What does the Wicked Witch of the West do? She covets.

Oh, and the very title of this article is something of an homage–but not to either film necessarily. I noticed that even the titles of the two texts are similar: The Wizard of Oz and The Silence of the Lambs. See? The something of the something, basically; however, “the something of the something” actually refers to a line in Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope (1948), in which a dotty society matron (Constance Collier) struggles to remember the name of a show she saw recently. The best she can come up with is “Something of the something,” which the character played by star James Stewart ribs her about periodically. Anyway, if the something of the something fits…

Thanks for your consideration….

Frankie & Alice & Halle & More Movie Bucket List

Per 2012′s Cloud Atlas, 2010′s Frankie and Alice (above), and a few others, Halle Berry doesn’t necessarily have the best eye for material that translates into mainstream commercial success, but she’s not afraid to challenge herself with risky projects; plus, she has an amazing talent for flooding her characters with emotion, which paid off magnificently when her gutsy, no holds barred, performance in Monster’s Ball elevated second rate material to Oscar worthy greatness. Frankie and Alice was similarly primed for awards consideration,  but, alas, to no avail. More than two years after its brief Oscar qualifying run, Frankie and Alice has still not been released on DVD/Blu Ray, and that’s shameful.

Well, as usual, Halle Berry looked smashing at the most recent Academy Awards.  Ostensibly, she was at the ceremony to participate in the salute to the James Bond franchise, per he role as “Jinx” in 2002′s Die Another Day. Of course,  Berry also has a new movie,  The Call, to promote.  Berry’s latest looks like a routine “woman in jep” thriller.  Well, I’m sure she’ll be happy if it’s a hit. Last year, she earned good notices in the heavily hyped Cloud Atlas, in which she and other high profile–and Oscar winning–thesps such as Tom Hanks, Jim Broadbent, and Susan Sarandon, played multiple roles in a sweeping series of tales spanning all manners of time and space. For example, Berry played six characters, ranging from a  19th century “Native Woman,” to a pair of characters living hundreds of years in the future with a pit stop in the 1970s for good measure.

I didn’t see Cloud Atlas when it was released last fall. I was intrigued by the cast and the fact that it was a collaboration between the Wachowskis (Andy and Lana of  The Matrix) and Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run). I was also excited by all the super makeup effects. Still, I hesitated for one reason or another, not the least of which was the time consideration. Unfortunately, the movie clocked in at roughly three hours (171 minutes), and while long movies are not necessarily a turn-off to me, I do find that I have less time to see a movie these days than I used to have, so I put it on the back burner until I could catch it at my local $1.00 theater, but then it just didn’t seem as urgent once other movies started opening closer to the holidays. Well,  I guess Cloud Atlas belongs on my bucket list. I want to see Berry, and I want to see the work of makeup artists whose work was denied Oscar consideration.

Do you know what other Halle Berry movie holds a special place on my Movie Bucket List? Frankie and Alice.  What’s that you say? Never heard of it? Maybe? Not sure?  Let’s rewind. Back in the fall of 2010, the buzz was so strong for Natalie Portman’s intense performance in  the creepy Black Swan that many Oscar prognosticators were ready to declare her the sure-fire Best Actress winner long before a single ballot had been marked. Then, word began building that Portman’s frontrunner status could very well be upset by the impending release of Berry’s Frankie and Alice, showcasing the actress in the flashy role of a woman with Multiple Personality Disorder.  The twist is that one of Berry’s multiples is that of an old-timey Southern white woman who’s also a racist, ironic given that the famously bi-racial Berry has long identified as black. Interesting. Plus, of course, going back to the fall of 2010, many of us have been waiting for Berry to star in a worthy follow-up to her Oscar winning–and groundbreaking–turn in 2001′s Monster’s Ball.  To be candid, of course, there was always the possibility that the excitement around Berry’s flick, while reported in the mainstream media, was an exaggeration generated by a publicist-for-hire.  It would not be the first time a movie arrived with more manufactured than actual interest.

Still, as the 2010/11 awards derby loomed closer and closer, Berry started making the rounds of morning talk shows and more details about Frankie and Alice emerged: the character was described as an exotic dancer. Furthermore, Berry actually served as one of the film’s producers, and the project was based on a true story. As I recall, Berry explained that she had actually been in contact with the character’s real-life inspiration.  I was actually briefly incapacitated for a spell that December, watching a lot of lightweight movies on basic cable (The Wedding Planner,  Fool’s Gold, Raising Helen, etc.), and there were plenty of Frankie and Alice promos during commercial breaks.  I was primed and ready to go–and then, as earlier speculated, Berry scored a Golden Globe nod for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama along with Portman, natch, Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole), Jennifer Lawrence (Winter’s Bone), and Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine) [1]; however, despite all the early hoopla, Berry failed to place in the race for the SAG award, nor did she earn a spot on the final Oscar roll call.  Worse, yes, worse, than Berry not being nominated for a second Oscar, is that in spite of my best efforts, I somehow missed Frankie and Alice when it finally opened in Dallas. Or did I? Well, that’s how it seemed at the time. Many movies that are positioned for Oscar consideration often open in New York and LA for qualifying runs in November and December but don’t make it into national release until January and February of the following year in order to capitalize on the glitz and glamour of awards season and much anticipated nominations–Maggie Smith’s well reviewed performance in Dustin Hoffman’s directorial debut, Quartet, is one such example.  Even though a Best Actress Oscar nomination for Smith failed to materialize, the movie’s  national release was timed with that eventuality (Oscar nods) in mind.  At any rate, I looked and looked for Frankie and Alice in online and newspaper movie directories, but I never saw it listed.

[^ Reporters and critics for the likes of Entertainment Weekly, Hollywood Reporter, and Variety hailed Halle Berry's performance in Frankie and Alice as "spellbinding" and "virtuoso," so how is it that the film has not been seen since its brief Oscar qualifying run in 2010?]

Later, I resigned myself to catching Frankie and Alice on DVD, so I started searching for it on Amazon. Nothing. Nothing? Over the next few months, I checked and checked again. Nada. That was when I decided to do some more investigating. I went to Box Office Mojo, and I was surprised by what I found: apparently, Frankie and Alice was in theatres–a theatre–for exactly one week in December of 2010, earning a paltry $10, 670. Nope, I had not missed it. I had never really been given the chance to see it.  My guess is that had Berry earned an Oscar nod, the movie would have gone into wider release in early 2011; since the nod never materialized, the plans were scrapped which is both unfortunate and short-sighted. After all, the movie had already been made, so why not make a concerted effort to recoup with or without a nod?

Worse, to this day, well over two years since Berry earned her Globe nod, Frankie and Alice is still not available on Amazon–or any other legitimate retailer.  How is this possible? Granted, aside from Berry’s lauded performance, the film as a whole did not earn enthusiastic notices, but that’s almost beside the point.  I  spend a lot of time at my neighborhood movie rental outfit (often browsing…I don’t always have to buy, or even rent, a flick), and I’m constantly amazed by a lot of what I see: movie after movie that seems like one bad idea after another. I’m always surprised that many of these movies ever got the greenlight to go into production in the first place, let alone have a second life on home video. You know you’ve had the same thought as well. How is it that junk movies that most people have never heard of, let alone seen, rate higher on the interest-meter than a once heavily hyped film starring an Oscar winning actress? On the other hand, there are plenty of movies that did only fair-to-middling, or worse, business in theatres only to find their audiences at last once they become available on home video. Two somewhat recent examples would include Fight Club and Office Space.   Why not Frankie and Alice?

Of course, I’m admittedly biased in this case too, and not just because I like Berry.  I understand that playing a woman with multiple personalities, or “dissociative identity disorder,” runs the risk of being barely more than a gimmicky stunt as evidenced by way too many sub-par TV movies (Sally Field’s landmark Sybil notwithstanding), but I’ve also written studied and written about the subject myself, and find it fascinating if done well. That’s the key: it has to be done well, yet even a reviewer in The Huffington Post at least admitted that while the movie’s script, cobbled together as it was by no less than seven writers, was pretty much a mess, the final effect was  at least good enough to earn Berry her Golden Globe nomination–and that’s not nothing.

I’m not necessarily surprised that Frankie and Alice did not fare too well in its limited theatrical engagement, but I am surprised that “Freestyle,” which signed-on to release the film in the U.S. gave up on the film so quickly. That’s the part that is most discouraging. Berry’s fans are being deprived of seeing the actress in a role apparently custom-tailored to her particular talents; moreover, Frankie and Alice would appear to be more than a one woman show as the cast also includes the ever reliable Stellan Skarsgård along with the great–multiple award winning–actress Phylicia Rashad and popular Grey’s Anatomy scene stealer  Chandra Wilson.  Again, this is not nothing.  I want to point the finger at someone, but I do not know whom that would be, and I wouldn’t know where to begin. What would I play? The race card?  (Still?) The sexism card? (Really?) The ageist card? (Berry is over 40, always a risky age for an actress in Hollywood). All of the above? Maybe it’s just the typical Hollywood stupidity card. By the way, am I the only one that’s troubled by this?

Even though Frankie and Alice is not yet officially available on DVD, I have found a few offers for bootleg copies on the Internet, and that’s tricky. If the film were available through legitimate means, a bootleg would not even be a consideration for me.  I think artists should be paid for their work, of course, and I understand how pirated copies and the like have a ripple effect throughout the business–hey, I pay attention to the noisy ads that pop up in theatres and on DVDs–so I tend not to consider any of that as an option; however, this seems like a special circumstance. On the other hand, from what I’ve read, these bootleg editions are of a miserably poor quality, so that’s another consideration.  For now, Berry’s rumored tour de force remains on my Movie Bucket List…if it’s possible for a movie that’s technically unavailable to actually be on such a list. Btw: If it has ever been shown on television, I am unaware. I have a small glimmer of hope that The Call will be a success and reignite interest in Frankie and Alice.
If you have seen this movie or might know of its whereabouts, please contact me.

Thanks for your consideration…

[1] Ultimately, Portman duked it out at the Oscars against the like of Kidman, Lawrence, and Williams along with Annette Bening (The Kids Are All Right), who won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.

The buzz begins in Entertainment Weekly:

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2010/10/25/halle-berrys-frankie-alice-enters-the-oscar-race/

Another “teaser” from EW:  http://insidemovies.ew.com/2010/11/15/halle-berry-oscar-best-actress-frankie-alice/

Frankie and Alice at Box Office Mojo: http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=frankiealice.htm

Huffington Post review by Marshall Fine:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marshall-fine/huffpost-review-ifrankie_b_816186.html