Whipped Shit and Whip Smart

I recently re-watched Woody Allen's 1979 masterpiece Manhattan and it is a film that still astounds me with its frank and forthright approach to the twisted melee of love. The comedy is acerbic at times and firmly placed as Allen's most truthful picture, and as a director he has never surpassed the monochrome beauty in capturing his favourite love, New York. To think he wwas ready to pay off studio execs so the film would never see the light of day astounds me still. Especially when the same man has recently made 'Whatever Works', a film so appaling that all reels of the film should be given an excorcism. First of all for all his good work in improv comedy Larry David just cannot act, and the man dies a slow painful death onscreen. Of course it is not helped when he is given lines so limp they need support bandages ("Let's face it, our marriage hasn't been a garden of roses. Botanically speaking, you are more of a Venus Flytrap" being the pick of the bunch). Theres no doubting Allen is a funny man but sadly this has not really come across in film since the whole Soon Yi business. The only truly great film he has directed since the 80's has been Sweet & Lowdown and it was a gently told story of a jazz guitarist whose demons overtook him. He's had many interesting films since the 80's but they have not been solely comedic in tone. However seeing as the man is 74 we should be glad he is still around to give us hope that one day he will make another true masterpiece. Waiting for that will be easy in a world where he has given us at least five bona fide masterpieces and about fifteen more great films. Shame Whatever Works has to exist on the same filmography as Manhattan or Sleeper though.

Now for my vote for the cheesiest and most surprisingly fun film of the year. Drum Roll.......It has to be 'Whip It', the directorial debut of Drew Barrymore. The film stars Ellen Page as Bliss Cavendar, a misfit teen forec by her mother to compete in beauty pageants. She and her friend Pash (the excellent Alia Shawkat) both as desperate to leave their small Texan town. Pash has dreams of going to an Ivy League University but Bliss has no idea what she wants beyond escape. That is until she finds out about a roller derby on a shopping trip to Austin. After going to one and falling in love with it she enrols in tryouts and gets selected to be a member of the 'Hurl Scouts', the perennial losers of the roller deby league. Spurred on in her new life as 'Babe Ruthless' she helps her team to grow from a ragtag group happy to be "second out of two" to a polished squad ready to do battle with the big guns of roller derby.
At heart the film is the typical underdog sports story but the use of roller derby and female protaganists sets it out from the rest of the pack. T be honest if you'd have heard the plot of the film you'd be forgiven for thinking Ben Affleck had found a follow up for Dodgeball but the oddness of roller derby is quickly forgotten about and the adrenaline of the whole proceedings take centre stage. Barrymore shows great enthusiasm for the sport and it's characters and really comes out of this with many plaudits. She has made a film with great action, some terrific performances (Page is soild as ever but Juliette Lewis as her rival Iron Maven is wonderful and Barrymore herself shows off her comedy chops as the wonderfully monickered Smaslee Simpson) and real heart behind the action. The scenes Page shares with Shawkat and her parents, played by Marcia Gay Harden and Daniel Stern are handled with a gossamer touch, never going over the top and being all the more authentic for that. Sadly there has to be a love interest and the one between Bliss and musician Oliver is contrived, pretentious and in the scene where she loses her virginity to him, it's rather hateful, grinding the film to a halt and putting a sad black mark over Page's character (why should she fall for such a cliche?). However the relationship dwindles and so does the memory of it and we're left with a great final third, culminating in the big final, which coincides with a big beauty pageant!Oh no, whats going to happen?
Ok, the plot is not original but it's the performances, a sharp script and a fine turn behind the camera from Barrymore that sets its apart from most of the fodder that passes for sports films. Take a chance on this film and you are in for a true treat.

Whatever Works: 0/5
Whip It: 4/5

Oscars, Funny People and Fucking Men

Since the last time I posted the Oscar nominations have been announced it has proved to be one of those rare occasions where the right films have been given the nominations, excluding perhaps Avatar, which really is not a great film in itself, but will definitely pick up effects Oscars that are thoroughly deserved. My thoughts are that 'Up In the Air' will win best film, Morgan Freeman may grab best Actor though the Clooney, Colin Firth or Jeff Bridges deserve it more and the fantastic Carey Mulligan will fight off surprisingly strong opposition from Sandra Bullock and reliably strong opposition from Helen Mirren to be crowned Best Actress, but in all honesty if any of these three win it they will have deserved it. As far as Screenplays go I personally cannot see past Up in The Air and up winning adapted/original, as well as Up claiming Best Animated Feature. And the big one for me, Best Director, I feel will go to James Cameron, though personally I would hand it over to Jason Reitman for his wonderful command of the camera in ’Up in The Air.’ Also worth noting are of course all nominations for ‘Precious’, the heartbreaking Lee Daniels film which is reviewed in my Previous post. I would not be surprised at all to see it pull off a double victory in the Actress/Supporting Actress category and maybe even (though it would be unlikely) a statue for Lee Daniels. Less likely would be for 'The Hurt Locker' to grab one of the ones it well deserves, for Kathyrn Bigelow's direction and a stunning lead turn from Jeremy Renner. And if you have a few quid to spare for a rank outsider bet then stick it on District 9 to run off with Best Picture. If it does I may just book myself into that clinic everyone says needs me.

With that out of the way it’s time to talk about some films what I just watched. ‘In The Company Of Men’ is an acid sharp satire about two businessmen who, recently dumped by their ladies, decide to turn the table and regain their masculinity by picking a vulnerable woman for them to both charm, romance and then dump at the end of their 6 week business stopover just to see how much it hurts her. The concept in itself is cruel but made even worse when they pick a deaf secretary as their target. What unfolds is some of the most misogynistic and detestable scenes ever put to film, made even worse by the fact they are coated in an almost likeable charm; you know they are the bad guys and yet sometimes you are made to forget this by their seemingly kind attitude. Aaron Eckhart is a revelation, an alpha dog who is 99%charm and 100% bastard, a role that is hard to eclipse. Neil LaBute draws out fantastic tension throughout the film and special mention has to go to the way he handles the final reveal, maybe not the most hard to figure out twist but definitely one of the most brutally executed. It’s a perfect piece of drama with a resounding message about the male species and their struggle to feel like the dominant gender. One can only presume David Fincher used this as a point of reference before he started ‘Fight Club.’

‘Departures’ just came into my radar last week which is a shame for if I had seen it upon it’s release then it would be flying high in my films of the decade list. A hilarious, touching and deeply human film about a young cellist Daigo (Masahiro Motoki) that returns to his hometown after his orchestra disbands to start afresh with his wife. He finds a job advertised for what he thinks is a travel agency (it says helping you with your departures) but when he arrives he finds out that due to a misprint he has found himself working in a funeral parlour. Due to the nature of the job he finds himself hiding what exactly he does from his wife but as he sees how his boss (Ryoko Hirosue) helps people in their most vulnerable moments he begins to question why he should be ashamed of this job. It’s a deeply moving film from Yojiro Takita and it deservedly won Best Foreign Film at the 2009 Oscars but it is also up there as best film of that, or any year. It is a must see film.

Finally, 'Funny People’ stars Adam Sandler as George Simmons, a stand up comedian turned major movie star whose shallow life is thrown a curveball when he is diagnosed with a rare form of leukaemia. He decides to return to his stand up roots and hires struggling comic Ira (a delightful Seth Rogen) to write new material for him as well as trying to reconnect with his lost love Laura (Leslie Mann). He then find himself possibly cured of his disease and struggles to find out if he has grown any from his experience. The film struggles between cock heavy hilarious and inner soul demon purging, and like every single film Judd Apatow has made it could do with 15-20mins being trimmed off the running time (pretty much the entire duration Eric Bana is onscreen ) but with all that taken into regard it goes down as Apatow’s finest film to date. How much of this is down to Sandler and Rogen you can only figure out for yourself but I was incredibly annoyed when the Best Actor category shunned Sandler for his devastating performance. Yes, some may say he is only playing a more exaggerated version of himself but ten years ago you would be not mistaken for thinking it would be a stretch for him to even do that. The transformation from the Adam Sandler in Little Nicky to the one post ‘Punch Drunk Love’ is possibly the acting miracle of the last ten years. Sure he throws out the occasional piece of empty fun like ‘Click’ and the occasional piece of utter crap like ‘I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry’ but his growth as a dramatic actor is immense, with a shocking turn in ‘Reign Over Me’ supplemented by his performance in this film. The film has plenty of stand out comedy moments, mainly provided by Rogen, Jonah Hill, Jason Schwartzman , and in one scene Eminem and Ray Romano (“I thought everybody loved you”) but it is the dark heartbeat of Sandler’s return to the stand up circuit and his inability to grasp the meaning of second chances that make the film edge out Apatow’s previous comedies. If you are looking for a laugh fest then avoid this, but if you are wanting substance and a chance to see the best incarnation of a comedy performer since Jim Carrey’s Andy Kaufman then give this a chance.

In The Company Of Men: 5/5
Departures: 5/5
Funny People: 4/5

Memorable Moments: The final 5 mins to ‘In The Company Of Men’
Shooting the corporate video in ‘Departures’
“Why did you eat Bjorn Borg” - Funny People

Final thoughts: How sexy has Jason Schwartzmann become in the twelve
years since ’Rushmore’? Did not see that a-coming.

Next Up: Crazy Heart
A Single Man
The Last Station