DVD Review: The Adjustment Bureau

Matt Damon and Emily Blunt star in a sophisticated, elegant thriller of predestination.

There’s an old proverb, certainly hundreds of years old and probably British, that begins with a horseshoe losing a nail and ultimately leading, through a cascade of dire consequences, to the collapse of an entire kingdom. Such small twists of fate – seemingly random yet maddeningly well- and ill-timed, holding the potential for disaster or joy – lie at the intelligent heart of The Adjustment Bureau. Helmed by first-time director George Nolfi (who also adapted the Philip K. Dick short story), the film trusts its audience to reach their own conclusions and rewards their patience with genuine suspense and characterization of an elegant, old-school Hollywood flavor. Until its last few moments, when the script veers into a pat ending, it’s one of the year’s best films.

Matt Damon stars as David Norris, a New York congressman whose hard-partying past (which fortunately does not involve Twitter) has cost him a Senate race in a bitter upset. Moments before his concession speech he meets Elise Sellas (Emily Blunt), a free-spirited woman who’s crashed a party elsewhere in the labyrinthine hotel. The two have an immediate, undeniable romantic chemistry, their flirtation relaxed and smart without seeming forced or purely sexual: more than simply attracted, they’re fascinated by one another. Norris has to make that speech, however, and thanks to Elise’s inspiration he gives one that revitalizes his political fortunes.

But forces are literally conspiring to keep them apart: Norris has been watched since childhood by “adjusters,” men in mid-20th Century clothing who periodically fine-tune reality on behalf of a vaguely defined “Chairman” who lays out intricate plans for everyone on Earth. Norris and Elise must not be together, the group’s leader (John Slattery) explains, because their togetherness violates the plan intended for Norris. (The Chairman, we learn later, wants him to be President.) When Norris intrudes on the adjustment team tweaking the venture capital firm where he works, the team makes him swear to not pursue Elise again. Confused and frightened, he agrees.

The film jumps ahead three years, to when a chance encounter brings the two would-be lovers together again. But the adjustment team is right there to intervene, even as one of their number (Anthony Mackie) decides to work on the couple’s behalf. Norris’ attempt to reach Elise through narrow Manhattan streets, while the adjusters manipulate reality and circumstance around him, makes for an unusual but gripping chase sequence that’s breathlessly staged and handsomely photographed.

Comparisons to last year’s far murkier Inception are unavoidable, but where that film sacrificed plot for spectacle Nolfi’s script and direction keep emphasis on character – particularly Norris’, but also allowing Elise ample screen time to develop into something more than the object of Norris’ obsession. She’s a well-rounded character in her own right, deserving of happiness and even sometimes pitiable: suffering without benefit of knowledge of the adjuster’s machinations, much of her life through the story is lonely and frustrated. (How many of us have wondered, sometime in our life, if vast forces weren’t keeping us alone? Elise becomes our proxy for that dilemma.)

The two leads, as mentioned above, deliver performances rich with maturity and depth. Damon the actor has virtually grown up on camera since his earliest appearances in the 1990s, and here he’s able to convey confidence and vulnerability without coming across as showy, and to his and Nolfi’s credit the screenplay never provides him a showy monologue or expressive scene in which – as we can imagine lesser films might – he gets to rage at the heavens. The film is too smart for that.

Can you imagine if the plan for your life included her?

Blunt, without benefit of Damon’s comparatively greater screen time, matches Damon’s restraint while making her character alluring on several levels. In that initial men’s room scene, her dialogue suggests a free-spirited type similar to the over-used and (and perhaps over-celebrated) pixie dream girl trope. Thankfully Elise the character outgrows that shoebox in seconds; she’s too old for the impish behavior suggested by the scene, for one thing; for another, such contrivance would derail the film’s better aspirations. Blunt’s best moment in the film comes later, when Elise confronts Norris for abandoning her: rather than allow herself to sink into bitchiness or spite, her hurt and anger fuel her reasoning with him.

The adjusters, meanwhile, carry frustrations with their job but keep a brusque professionalism with each other. John Slattery, playing the adjuster Richardson, makes an effective foil for Norris’ determination, at once amused by the humans’ resolve but wary of the consequences of defiance. His impatience and disappointment with Mackie’s rebel angel, communicated with impatient gestures and harried asides, speaks volumes without lapsing into bald exposition. “Three years later and I’m still cleaning up your mess,” Richardson tells him bitterly, as they pass in a hallway. You get the sense the adjusters feel as mystified by the Chairman’s plans as anyone else, but their’s isn’t to question why, no matter how much the job drains them.

In turn this only raises larger issues, but they’re the issues that the movie wants to face. Predestination is an old, old subject in art and culture, and here the film’s split-the-difference explanation of determinism grinding against free will might either intrigue or annoy you, depending on how you felt about such matters in the first place. Thompson (Terence Stamp, imperious as ever), the adjuster’s “hammer” sent in to separate Norris and Elise once and for all, explains the rises and falls of human history as a series of interspersed periods of free will and divine engineering. Agree with him or not, his perspective is both smart and chilling. The film’s submerged theme – that there is a plan, but it’s imperfect, and it changes all the time – is also troubling on any number of levels. The film doesn’t provide any answers, but there’s something to say for a mainstream film of this day and age even asking the questions.

With so much done right and most often done very well, it’s almost inevitable that the film underwhelm a little at the ending. It does, but only mildly and only very narrowly. A resolution that allows for – well, a happy ending, honestly – comes along too tidily and too conveniently to earn its place among the scenes preceding it; listen to the dialogue closely and you may even be reminded of The Wizard of Oz, and realistically we can imagine that wasn’t Dick’s or Nolfi’s intent. Until those last moments, however, The Adjustment Bureau is handsome, near-excellent filmmaking.

- Michael Kabel

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Review: The Adjustment Bureau

Matt Damon and Emily Blunt star in a sophisticated, elegant thriller of predestination.

There’s an old proverb, certainly hundreds of years old and probably British, that begins with a horseshoe losing a nail and ultimately leading, through a cascade of dire consequences, to the collapse of an entire kingdom. Such small twists of fate – seemingly random yet maddeningly well- and ill-timed alike, holding the potential for disaster or joy - lie at the intelligent heart of The Adjustment Bureau. Helmed by first-time director George Nolfi (who also adapted the Philip K. Dick short story), the film trusts its audience to reach their own conclusions and rewards their patience with genuine suspense and characterization of an elegant, old-school Hollywood flavor. Until its few moments, when the script veers into a pat ending, it’s probably the best new release of the year to date.

Matt Damon plays David Norris, a New York congressman whose hard-partying past has cost him a Senate race that, it’s explained to us, most voters felt certain he’d win. Moments before his concession speech he encounters Elise Sellas (Emily Blunt), a free-spirited woman who’s crashed a party elsewhere in the labyrinthine hotel. The two have an immediate, undeniable romantic chemistry, their flirtation relaxed and smart without seeming forced or purely sexual: more than simply attracted, they’re fascinated by one another. Norris has to make that speech, however, and thanks to Elise’s inspiration he gives one that revitalizes his political fortunes.

But forces are literally conspiring to keep them apart: Norris has been watched since childhood by “adjusters,” men in mid-20th Century clothing who periodically fine-tune reality on behalf of a vaguely defined ”Chairman” who lays out intricate plans for everyone on Earth. Norris and Elise must not be together, the group’s leader (John Slattery) explains, because their togetherness violates the plan intended for Norris. (The Chairman, we learn later, wants him to be President.) When Norris intrudes on the adjustment team tweaking the venture capital firm where he works, the team makes him swear to not pursue Elise again. Confused and frightened, he agrees.

The film jumps ahead three years, to when a chance encounter brings the two would-be lovers together again. But the adjustment team is right there to intervene, even as one of their number (Anthony Mackie) decides to work on their behalf. Norris’ attempt to reach Elise through narrow Manhattan streets, while the adjusters manipulate reality and circumstance around him, makes for an unusual but gripping chase sequence that’s breathlessly staged and handsomely photographed.

Comparisons to last year’s far murkier Inception are unavoidable, probably, but where that film sacrificed plot for spectacle Nolfi’s script and direction keep emphasis on character – particularly Norris’, but also allowing Elise ample screen time to develop into something more than the object of Norris’ obsession. She’s a well-rounded character in her own right, deserving of happiness and even sometimes pitiable: suffering without benefit of knowledge of the adjuster’s machinations, much of her life through the story is lonely and frustrated. (How many of us have wondered, sometime in our life, if vast forces weren’t keeping us alone? Elise becomes our proxy for that dilemma.)

The two leads, as mentioned above, deliver spotless performances rich with maturity and depth. Damon the actor has virtually grown up on camera since his earliest appearances in the 1990s, and here he’s able to convey confidence and vulnerability at the same time. His performance isn’t for a moment showy, and to his and Nolfi’s credit the screenplay never provides him a showy monologue or expressive scene in which – as we can imagine lesser films might – he gets to rage at the heavens. In this way, too, the film is too smart for that.

Can you imagine if the plan for your life included her?

Blunt, without benefit of Damon’s comparatively greater screen time, matches Damon’s restraint while making her character alluring on several levels. In that initial men’s room scene, her dialogue suggests a free-spirited type similar to the over-used and (and perhaps over-celebrated) pixie dream girl trope. Thankfully Elise the character outgrows that shoebox in seconds; she’s too old for the impish behavior suggested by the scene, for one thing; for another, such contrivance would derail the film’s better aspirations. Blunt’s best moment in the film comes later, when Elise confronts Norris for abandoning her: rather than allow herself to sink into bitchiness or spite, her hurt and anger fuel her reasoning with him.

The adjusters, meanwhile, carry frustrations with their job but keep a brusque professionalism with each other. John Slattery, playing the adjuster Richardson, makes an effective foil for Norris’ determination, at once amused by the humans’ resolve but wary of the consequences of defiance. His impatience and disappointment with Mackie’s rebel angel, communicated with impatient gestures and harried asides, speaks volumes without lapsing into bald exposition. “Three years later and I’m still cleaning up your mess,” Richardson tells him bitterly, as they pass in a hallway. You get the sense the adjusters feel as mystified by the Chairman’s plans as anyone else, but their’s isn’t to question why, no matter how much the job drains them.

In turn this only raises larger issues, but they’re the issues that the movie wants to face. Predestination is an old, old subject in art and culture, and here the film’s split-the-difference explanation of determinism grinding against free will might either intrigue or annoy you, depending on how you felt about such matters in the first place. Thompson (Terence Stamp, imperious as ever), the adjuster’s “hammer” sent in to separate Norris and Elise once and for all, explains the rises and falls of human history as a series of interspersed periods of free will and divine engineering. Agree with him or not, his perspective is both smart and chilling. The film’s submerged theme – that there is a plan, but it’s imperfect, and it changes all the time – is also troubling on any number of levels. The film doesn’t provide any answers, but  there’s something to say for a mainstream film of this day and age even asking the questions.

With so much done right and most often done very well, it’s almost inevitable that the film underwhelm a little at the ending. It does, but only mildly and only very narrowly. A resolution that allows for – well, a happy ending, honestly – comes along too tidily and too conveniently to earn its place among the scenes preceding it; listen to the dialogue closely and you may even be reminded of The Wizard of Oz, and realistically we can imagine that wasn’t Dick’s or Nolfi’s intent. Until those last moments, however, The Adjustment Bureau is handsomely excellent filmmaking.

- Michael Kabel

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Miscellaneous Debris: July 2010 Edition

Our end-of-the-month wrapup of reviews, news, and observations that didn’t get a full post.

Here come the dog days of summer, but it’s not a complete loss. For as blah as the summer has been so far - and it’s been a giant yawn, by and large – the coming weeks show plenty of promise. In the meantime, last weekend’s San Diego Comic-Con and the upcoming fall television season has given probably half the Internet several weeks worth of blogging and complaining fuel.

Some of our own complaints and blogging fuel are listed below. All opinions are our own, and as always they’re presented in no particular order of importance.

1. Actually, first things first: Mad Men‘s fourth season premiere was a virtuoso bit of television, as good if not better than the series’ vaunted pilot and a jump ahead in quality from the season three debut. With its characters entering the post-JFK era – some leaping, some getting pulled along by the undertow of changing times – the show seems at once re-energized and recommitted. Jon Hamm continued to bring new range and depth to Don Draper, as Matthew Weiner’s script stood the character on his handsome head, while Pete Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser) and Peggy Olson (Elisabeth Moss) finally emerged as the confident grown-ups fans have waited for them to become.

Weiner made some comments last spring that the show would only run six seasons, and it’s not hard to see this ep as the halfway point in the story’s evolution. This coming week’s episode reveals – just in time for summer – the first-ever Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce Christmas party.

2. It’s fun to get what we want. After complaining last year that we wished some former A-list leading men deserved and were due for comebacks, two of our picks have movies opening this week and next. Kevin Kline’s indie comedy The Extra Man, co-starring Paul Dano and John C. Reilly, opens in limited release this weekend. Next week’s The Other Guys, starring Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell, co-stars Michael Keaton; we’ll mention again that The Merry Gentleman, Keaton’s directing debut, remains one of our favorite films released since this blog began a couple of years ago.

In the meantime, here’s the trailer for The Extra Man:

3. Nothing came out of the San Diego Comic-Con that really amazed us, but a few things surfaced that sort of disappointed. We’ve made the case before that Joss Whedon isn’t the best choice to write or direct the upcoming Avengers movie, but now that he’s confirmed to do both we’ll give him an even chance. Mark Ruffalo (Zodiac) is a trade-up in replacing Edward Norton as the Hulk, and it’s good to see Jeremy Renner finally confirmed as Hawkeye. All the same, it’s still a bummer to hear that Avengers founding member and mainstay Hank Pym will not appear in the film. The full cast list was revealed at the convention’s panel.

For no good reason, here’s an episode of The Avengers: United They Stand cartoon from the late 90s. Actually, it’s so painfully 90′s it might as well be sporting a pair of Doc Marten’s and a Friends haircut.

4. Better late than never: we’re happy to report that The Unusuals, the exceptional police comedy-drama that Renner headlined last year, has been available on DVD for a while now. Co-starring Terry Kinney, Amber Tamblyn, Adam Goldberg and Harold Perrineau, the show mixed black humor with sometimes surreal drama and plot twists, creating something unlike anything else on network television. Naturally, it lasted just ten episodes before ABC pulled the plug. Renner immediately went on to acclaim in The Hurt Locker, so hopefully the network regrets its cancellation. Nine episodes are available for streaming on Netflix.

5. October sees the release of The Social Network, which except for its pedigree might seem cause for suspicion; still, an Aaron Sorkin script directed by David Fincher is too good to pass up, and anyway a film that’s intelligently made about current events is seldom a bad thing, if ever.

Based on Ben Mezrich’s book The Accidental Billionaires and starring Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield and Justin Timberlake, the film chronicles the rise of Facebook. By the way, please join our Facebook group.

The film opens nationwide October 1.

6. In previous installments of Miscellaneous Debris we chastised both Rescue Me and Leverage for their egregious product placement, devoting too much time to mentioning or in some cases outright singing the praises of their commercial sponsors. Happily, both shows have toned that down quite a bit in their current runs. After a hit-or-miss second season, Leverage seems to have found its legs, with each episode by and large more entertaining than the last. Meanwhile Rescue Me, though too quick once again to fall back on the Tommy Gavin (Denis Leary)-as-human-trainwreck plotlines, has returned to ideas from earlier seasons that worked well before getting abandoned. In particular, the ace comic chemistry between firefighters Sean Garrity (Steven Pasquale) and Mike Silletti (Mike Lombardi) and the reappearance of slain firefighter Jimmy Keefe (James McCaffrey) improve every episode in which they’re used.

7. Ten years ago, Ang Lee’s martial arts epic Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon caused something of a quiet sensation, re-defining how audiences (particularly sci-fi and fantasy audiences) thought about the limits and potential of the action film genre. The  film’s luxurious cinematography and eye-googling special effects, combined with a simple but moving story of revenge and deferred love, made larger Western franchises including the then-popular Matrix and Star Wars prequel trilogy seem instantly cumbersome and outdated. Subsequent imitators and similar wuxia efforts trickled through Western multiplexes for years afterward.

A Blu-Ray edition was released this month (a previous edition was available in a three-film wuxia box set), and though we haven’t seen it yet we can only imagine how Lee’s incredible vision appears in high-definition. If you haven’t seen the film, you should. If you have, it might be time to revisit it.

8.  Criterion has officially announced the Blu-Ray and two-disc DVD release of Terrence Malick’s The Thin Red Line. Set to debut September 28, Criterion’s edition includes a new digital transfer supervised by Malick, thirteen minutes of outtakes, interviews with cast members, newsreels of the actual fighting on Guadalcanal and the Solomon Islands, and audio tracks of the Melanesian chants heard throughout the film.

To reiterate what we said a couple of months ago: Upon its 1998 release the film was unfairly ignored by a public that preferred the more simplistic jingoism of Saving Private Ryan (released earlier that year) or felt leery of its sorrowful, meditative tone. Nevertheless, Malick’s eye for arresting imagery didn’t dull one bit after an almost twenty year hiatus from filmmaking; the trailer alone is more picturesque than the entirety of most films, and also more moving. 

Our annual summer hiatus runs through next week. We’ll return Tuesday, August 10 with more of what you come here for. Thanks for reading.

- Michael Kabel

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We Like Them, We Really Like Them

Our hopes and predictions for the 2010 Academy Awards.

The smashed box office records of Avatar notwithstanding, 2009 isn’t likely to go down in anybody’s books as a year to remember. The movie industry itself finds itself in a weird period, with theatre attendance slightly up while DVD sales take a sharp downward turn. The implied message is that people were more willing to watch their choice of movie than they were to keep it. Is that a comment on the quality of current films versus years previous, or a reflection of public expectations regarding the films themselves? Maybe.

The Academy Awards, the once and still-ostensible benchmark of film excellence, finds itself at odds with itself this year as well. Years of criticism for elitism and popular irrelevance finally went answered in 2009, as the Academy capitulated by opening the Best Picture category up to ten nominees. And some of the films on that ballot, frankly, have little business being there.  The following are our predictions, observations, and ideas about the winners and nominees in some of the larger categories. We admit that we are usually aggressively, epically wrong in our predictions.

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published: Up In The Air; An Education; Precious: Based On The Novel Push by Sapphire; District 9; In The Loop. Our choice: Up In The Air What we think will win: Up In The Air. Everybody loved Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner’s translation of Walter Kirn’s novel, but it’s essentially a prestige picture at heart, and the Academy’s trying to go cold turkey on awarding such films the Best Picture statue. Saluting the script may offer a means of splitting the difference between snubbing it and giving it the big award.

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen: The Hurt Locker; Inglorious Basterds; The Messenger; Up; A Serious Man. Our choice: The Hurt Locker What we think will win: The Hurt Locker. While Mark Boal’s script has drawn criticism from military personnel for its depiction of the war in Iraq, its recent win at the Writer’s Guild of America awards (along with Up In The Air, which won in its category) helps its chances of being the ceremony’s big winner, especially if – like Up In the Air again – it loses in the Best Picture category.

Best Achievement in Cinematography: Mauro Fiore, Avatar; Christian Berger, The White Ribbon; Bruno Delbonnel, Harry Potter and Half-Blood Prince; Barry Ackroyd, The Hurt Locker; Robert Richardson, Inglorious Basterds. Our choice: Christian Berger Who we think will win: Mauro Fiore. Berger’s gorgeous black and white color palette does a lot of the heavy lifting in selling the disquiet of Michael Haneke’s latest meditation on violence. Nevertheless, we think this is the year of Avatar, including not least of which for recognition of its formidable visual achievements.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role: Penelope Cruz for Nine; Anna Kendrick for Up In The Air; Vera Farmiga for Up In The Air; Mo’Nique for Precious: Based On The Novel Push by Sapphire; Maggie Gyllenhaal for Crazy Heart. Our choice: Vera Farmiga Who we think will win: Anna Kendrick. That’s damning praise, since we suspect a win could hurt Kendrick’s career in much the same way that the later efforts of previous upstart winners Anna Paquin, Mira Sorvino, and Jennifer Hudson all seemed manacled by their victories. It would be a shame if that happened to Kendrick, who showed real potential as George Clooney’s Gen-Y sidekick and antagonist. And we’re not sure why Farmiga isn’t in the Best Actress category.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role: Matt Damon for Invictus; Christopher Waltz for Inglorious Basterds; Stanley Tucci for The Lovely Bones; Christopher Plummer for The Last Station; Woody Harrelson for The Messenger. Our choice: Stanley Tucci Who we think will win: Christopher Waltz. We’ve been fans of Tucci’s for years, at least since Big Night back in 1996. It’s past time he gets some official recognition (and directs another film, while we’re on the subject.) The many flaws of Basterds notwithstanding, Waltz’s performance as Nazi ”Jew hunter” Hans Landa has met with virtually unanimous critical praise, and there’s no reason that won’t translate into an Academy victory.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: Sandra Bullock for The Blind Side; Helen Mirren for The Last Station; Carey Mulligan for An Education; Gabourey Sidibe for Precious: Based On The Novel Push by Sapphire; Meryl Streep for Julie & Julia. Our choice: Sidibe Who we think will win: Streep. Of all the categories, this one seems the widest open; still, we’d rate Bullock’s and Mulligan’s chances as the most remote. And we maintain our suspicion that Streep’s name is pre-programmed into the Academy’s ballot template. They fill in the name of her movie for any given year.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role: Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart; George Clooney for Up In The Air; Colin Firth for A Single Man; Morgan Freeman for Invictus; Jeremy Renner for The Hurt Locker. Our choice: Bridges Who we think will win: Bridges, as his Golden Globes win indicates. This is the great actor’s fifth nomination, having previously lost Best Supporting Actor to Ben Johnson, Robert DeNiro and Benicio Del Toro and the Best Actor statue to F. Murray Abraham. Renner’s a long shot, but shouldn’t be counted completely out, either.

Best Achievement in Directing: Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker; James Cameron for Avatar; Lee Daniels for Precious: Based On The Novel Push by Sapphire; Jason Reitman for Up In The Air; Quentin Tarantino for Inglorious Basterds. Our choice: Reitman Who we think will win: Bigelow. It’s a minutiae of Academy trivia, but is this the first time a divorced couple has gone head to head in a category? Cameron could likely lose to ex-wife Bigelow if Academy voters split the two big awards between their respective films. And vice versa. Still and all, Reitman’s film adroitly captured the zeitgeist on a relatively small budget – no mean feat.

Best Motion Picture of the Year: Avatar; The Bind Side; District 9; An Education; The Hurt Locker; Inglorious Basterds; Precious: Based On The Novel Push by Sapphire; A Serious Man; Up; Up In The Air. Our choice: Up In the Air Who we think will win:  Avatar. Our comments listed just above about Up In The Air‘s achievements notwithstanding, the Academy loves a winner, and it loves James Cameron. Avatar has both, and it’s the populist choice besides. Of the rest of the nominees, we’re unsure what the Academy saw in District 9 and Pixar’s disappointing Up to merit their inclusion in competition.

Our congratulations to the winners and our condolences to those who don’t get the statue. We’ll be back next week.

- Michael Kabel

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Miscellaneous Debris, February 2010 Edition

The latest installment of our Movitetone-newsreel-in-blog-form recurring feature.  

Seriously, is it Spring yet? Like a lot of the United States, winter’s icy fingers continue to clutch and grab at us even while February goes out like a lamb. A frozen solid lamb, encased in thick, sticky ice. We didn’t get to the movies much this month, mainly because a lot of the new releases didn’t interest us and anyway we were working on other things. Still, a few items popped up on our radar, and they’re listed below in no particular order of importance.  

All opinions are our own, by the way. They may be different from yours. That’s okay.  

1. Following up our earlier obituary for Brittany Murphy, the Los Angeles Coroner’s final report  indicates there were no signs of drug or alcohol abuse, and that the actress’ body was not dangerously thin at the time of her death. The 84-page report was released Febuary 25, and reiterated earlier conclusions that Murphy’s death was accidental but also preventable, and that no foul play was suspected.  

2. Ungracefully moving from the tragic to the inane, rumors circulated the Internet this week that John Krasinski (The Office) may sign to play Marvel Comics’ super-patriot Captain America. We’ll just add our voice to the chorus of skepticism. Krasinski isn’t a bad actor, yet we don’t see him as the World War II battlefield leader that the script to The First Avenger: Captain America reportedly requires. Of the possibilities mentioned in this latest round of rumors, we’d probably go with Scott Porter (Friday Night Lights), even though we think most of them – including Michael Cassidy, Mike Vogel, and Chace Crawford – are all too young for the role. Remember that Iron Man was a surprise hit thanks in large part to the irresistable performance given by a 43-year old Robert Downey, Jr.  

3. If you’re not already watching Southland, the serial drama TNT rescued from the ever-widening NBC vortex, the show’s second season begins this Tuesday, March 2. Its initial half-dozen or so episodes had some rough patches, including a surfeit of characters jockeying for clarity in the breakneck plotlines, but the episodes themselves were excellent more often than not. So far the standouts among the cast are Regina King as a LAPD homicide detective slowly buckling under the strain of her job, and Shawn Hatosy as a gang task force agent trying to balance a neurotic wife (Emily Bergl) with working against a ruthless gang that may have him outsmarted.  

  

4. With the Academy Awards just nine days or so away, we’re still mulling over our predictions. We sort of expect Avatar to get Best Picture, given the Academy’s hunger for populist appeal just now, though we’re usually and embarrassingly wrong about such things. If we got to choose the winners, we have to say we’d pick The Hurt Locker from the (long) list of nominees. At the least, that film’s Jeremy Renner deserves the Best Actor nod.  

We’ll have our complete list of awards picks next week.  

5. A recent viewing of The Magnificent Seven got us to wondering who’d play the mighty group of gunfighters in a new version. We’re actually a little surprised Hollywood hasn’t tried it already. (The burly excess of the upcoming The Expendables with its vaguely similar concept notwithstanding.) We imagine Chow Yun-Fat in the Chris Adams role (played in the original by Yul Brynner), with George Clooney as Vin (Steve McQueen) and Clive Owen as the knife-throwing Britt (James Coburn.) We can also see Mad Men‘s John Slattery as the dapper, nerve-wracked Lee (Robert Vaughn) and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the firebrand Chico (Horst Bucholz). Finally, who better than Javier Bardem to play the bandit king Calvera (Eli Wallach)? Post your own ideas below, please, but here’s the trailer to the original:  

  

6. Pixar’s John Carter of Mars project keeps picking up talented cast members, and as longtime fans of the Edgar Rice Burroughs novels we keep getting more enthused for the film, the studio’s first attempt at live action. Besides stars Taylor Kitsch and Lynn Collins, the cast now also features Mark Strong (Sherlock Holmes), Ciaran Hinds (There Will Be Blood), Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), Willem Dafoe (Platoon), Samantha Morton (In America), Polly Walker (Rome), Thomas Haden Church (Sideways) and Dominic West (The Wire).  

The swashbuckling story (think Lord of the Rings crossed with Star Wars) tells of an American Civil War officer’s adventures on the barbaric world of Mars, or Barsoom, eventually uniting its several warlike races. Burroughs wrote more than a dozen stories set on the fictionalized planet, so Pixar undoubtedly has trilogy or more in mind. The film is set for release in 2012.  

Ask your parents: Leno

  7. We harbor little respect for the man and even less affection, but Jay Leno’s return to The Tonight Show and NBC’s willingness to bring him back on at the expense of the much funnier Conan O’Brien indicates something that a lot of the entertainment media likes to pretend doesn’t exist: the millions of television viewers who don’t give a shit about what’s hip or edgy or even on the pop culture radar at all.  As commentator Steve Sternberg points out, Leno’s audience isn’t anywhere near the over-celebrated 18-24 demographic, and likely remained unphased by the public sentiment that bolstered O’Brien in the recent debacle. We imagine Leno’s fan base typically skews toward having plenty of money, too, a quality we’re sure advertisers find appealing.  

8. Finally, we recently saw – and loved – Robert Siodmak’s 1948 film noir Cry of the City, starring Victor Mature and noir heavyweight Richard Conte (The Big Combo) in some of their finest performances. Lieutenant Candella (Mature) stalks career criminal Martin Rome (Conte) through as realistic a ghetto as was put on film up to that point. The film isn’t as famous as Siodmak’s next effort, Criss Cross (which we frankly find a little overrated), but it’s every bit as enjoyable for noir afficianados.  

The film isn’t available on DVD yet, but it is available on YouTube, and Fox Movie Classics has aired it several times recently, as well.  

  

We’ll be back next week. Thanks for reading.  

- Michael Kabel 

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Miscellaneous Debris, November 2009 Edition

Our monthly compendium of stuff that didn’t get a full post, for one reason or another.

There’s just one more month left in the decade (unless you’re one of those weirdos who complain, “the decade begins with 1…”), meaning it’s not too early to start looking back. The 00′s were a decade that likely will never be remembered as a particularly good one for American film; we put it somewhere between the 1950s and maybe – maybe – the 80s in terms of total quality work produced. The amount of dumb, cynical, artless trash far outweighed the good, but then again that’s sadly, probably true of any given time period.

Anyway, here’s our monthly roundup of items of interest that didn’t deserve or receive a full blog post. All our opinions are our own, and all graphics are stuff we found lying around the Internet.

1. This month’s hysteria regarding the release of The Twilight Saga: New Moon came with an earnest attempt at a backlash dogging its wake, as critics from every corner of the media – and especially online – did their best to counter-shout the series’ fans. Not to defend the sparkly vampires, but anyone decrying the phenomenon shouldn’t feel surprised at its popularity. Vampires are a steady, resurgent franchise in American culture, and it makes sense that a version catering to the American Idol generation would surface sooner or later. If Twilight is superficial, mawkish, and clumsily obtuse, it’s only giving its audience what they’ve come to expect from pop entertainment.

2. While we’re on the subject of pop culture and what’s wrong with it, two news items this past week about David Hasselhoff and Donny Osmond underscored a major reason for the current media malaise. Celebrities don’t burn out anymore. They fade… and fade… and fade away. The proliferation of cable channels and other media outlets means everyone gets camera time long after their 15 minutes have worn off. Except all that detritus has become dead weight upon the public radar, with chances for the emergence of new talent becoming that much more remote. Much like pop music at the end of the 1980s, the film and TV industries are in desperate need of fresh air, the sooner the better. More than that, the industries have got to stop cashing in on the past because it’s cheap and safe.

3. Someone else said – but we’re happy to originate the idea – that George Clooney has two screen personae: there’s the talented ensemble actor, the guy that does offbeat work like O Brother, Where Art Thou and The Men Who Stare At Goats, and there’s his American Leading Man mode that you see in stuff like Michael Clatyon and the Ocean’s saga. We’re looking forward to December’s Up In The Air because it might present the first combination of the two while finally getting Gorgeous George the widespread critical respect he’s deserved for years. Here’s the trailer, in the unlikely event you haven’t seen it yet:

Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela

4. Another pervasive trailer this month previewed Clint Eastwood’s new Invictus, about the true story of South African president Nelson Mandela’s attempt to bring the post-Apartheid nation together via the 1995 Rugby World Cup games. While the idea of Matt Damon playing a rugby champion isn’t really surprising, the casting of Morgan Freeman as Mandela is one of those lightning-strike “why hasn’t this happened already” castings that happen every blue moon or so. It also makes us wish by free association that Steven Spielberg would make his Liam Neeson-starring biopic of Abraham Lincoln already. Still and all, props to Freeman for taking the role and props to Eastwood for tackling such unexpected (for him) material. The film debuts December 11.

Burrows to join L&O: CI

5. This time last year we bitched that the USA Network couldn’t nail down a season premiere for its Law & Order: Criminal Intent franchise. Now the show’s reportedly getting a virtually all-new cast when it returns “early” next year. Series regulars Vincent D’Onofrio, Kathryn Erbe, Eric Bogosian and Julianne Nicholson will all depart after the series’ ninth season opener. Saffron Burrows (The Bank Job) replaces Nicholson, while Bogosian will be replaced by Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (The Perfect Storm). The newer, streamlined show will feature sole returning star Jeff Goldblum in every episode.

Though we like Goldblum as an actor and in his L&O: CI role, we also remember that his last effort at headlining a detective show lasted seven weeks, even with Graham Yost (Band of Brothers) as showrunner. We liked that show, too.

6. Elsewhere on basic cable, TNT announced this month they would pick up broadcast rights to Southland, the promising cop drama that NBC stupidly cancelled in October. Possibly as a way to afford the ensemble cast, the network has dropped their original series Raising The Bar from its schedule, with a second season for Dark Blue, its other cop show, stuck in limbo. Meanwhile their new Men of A Certain Age premieres next Monday. Anything with Andre Braugher or Scott Bakula has got our attention for at least a few weeks, and this has them both.

Renner in The Hurt Locker

7. Already among the year’s – if not the decade’s – most highly praised films despite only a limited release last summer, The Hurt Locker premieres on DVD and Blu-Ray January 12. The gritty drama co-stars Jeremy Renner, one of the best young actors around right now following his superb performances in ABC’s The Unusuals and onscreen in 2007′s The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford. We’re glad his turn here is getting him some attention.

We value our female readership, and stuff like this never hurts.

8. You know it’s close to December when three of the top ten films have “Oscar Bait” written all over them. The Blind Side currently makes the most money (despite scathing reviews), while Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire and The Road are both still building momentum. In light of the sweeping changes made to the Academy’s voting process this year, however, it’s still too early to guess which film has the inside track towards Best Picture. If we had to suppose, we imagine Rob Marshall’s Nine will take the statue. It’s got a shitload of razzle dazzle (remember Marshall’s Chicago won in 2003), a screenplay co-written by the late Anthony Minghella, and a broad cast of flashy actors like Daniel Day-Lewis and Nicole Kidman. In years past such a combination would be like crack for Academy voters, but the new rules could change things up.

Watch the embedding—proof HD Trailer for Nine here, much of which looks an awful lot like an Oscar ceremony musical number.

Thanks for reading. We were a day late posting this, and we apologize for the delay – real life’s been pimp-slapping our writing time lately. We’ll be back later this week.

- Michael Kabel

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DVD Preview: Near Dark

80s vampire cult favorite gets a new DVD release tomorrow.

Long before the red state chastity of the Twilight series or even the homoerotic glamour of Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles, vampire films got a strange and visceral twist courtesy of co-writer/director Kathryn Bigelow’s 1987 B-flick Near Dark, a gritty take on the sub-genre that was as much Western adventure as it was horror story. A cult classic for decades, the film gets its first DVD re-release in five years July 7, even as the director’s The Hurt Locker opens nationwide to riotous critical applause. Fans of the Whedonverse and HBO’s True Blood won’t want to miss it, while Twilight devotees owe it to themselves to check it out.

Small-town Oklahoma boy Caleb Colton (Adrian Pasdar, Heroes) gives comely drifter Mae (Jenny Wright, St. Elmo’s Fire) a ride home and gets a bite on the neck as thanks. The next day, as his skin catches fire in daylight, he’s kidnapped onto the open road by her gang of roaming vampires, including their leader Jesse (Lance Henriksen, Aliens) and his psychotic henchman Severen (Bill Paxton, Big Love). Severen wants to kill the newcomer and have done with it, but Jesse gives him a week to prove his worth or face undead exile. But Caleb wins the group’s trust during a daytime gunfight with police at an abandoned motel, and conspires with Mae to sustain him as he refuses to drink innocent blood. Eventually, he must save his father (Tim Thomerson, Trancers), his sister and Mae from the group’s repeated attacks and find a cure for his affliction.

The action scenes that ensue are classic 80s cult: gory, at times romantic in shot composition and texture, flaunting their heavy emphasis on mood and feeling. The film was only Bigelow’s second feature, and though its visual restraint and narrative focus sometimes slip from her control there’s a definite sense of creative voice at work, a voice that informs her more polished (though no less noir-inspired) subsequent efforts such as Blue Steel (1989) and Strange Days (1995). Bigelow was married to director James Cameron in the late 80s, and it’s hard not to see the influence of his mid-decade work present here, borrowing especially from The Terminator (1984) and Aliens (1986) not just its use of lighting but also in its pervasive skepticism about value of moral standards in the face of violent evil.

Much of the film’s energy comes from its fresh approach to traditional vampire tropes: there is no baroque lore, no sense of tradition or of internal struggles flavored with obsessive self-loathing and loneliness. Jesse is ancient and eerie, suggesting a history to their affliction, but the gang doesn’t resemble the coven or guild commonly routinely found in more mundane vampire adventures; rather, they recall the James Gang, or a touring punk rock band, bound together by their mutual needs and ambitions. By contrast Caleb and his family are the archetypal Western homesteaders, defending themselves as much as their property. The film even includes a massacre at a roadhouse that might just as well be a frontier saloon.

Though absolutely a film of its time, Near Dark also saw a return to treating the vampire subject seriously after a spate of broad comedies like Fright Night and Once Bitten (both 1985) used vampire gimmicks for humorous effect. Its release at the box office was disappointing, no doubt hampered by the release of the somewhat similar The Lost Boys just two months before. That film had major studio backing and a cast that collectively boasted the best cheekbones of any group of the decade. Nevertheless, and like so many other cult films of the 1980s, Near Dark‘s fame rests largely on multiple showings on late-night cable movie channels, a time when those fledgling networks seemed perennially half-starved for programming.

Ultimately, it’s unfair to dismiss Near Dark as a runner up genre excercise or journeyman work from a director still coming into her own. It’s a standout B-movie from an era that was often a Golden Age for such humbler-budget efforts. Perhaps more significantly, it’s become in intervening years a touchstone for a larger cycle in American culture, part of a recurring signal flare about what we’re feeling and when we feel it. Vampires swell in popularity as American cynicism about the nation’s direction grows, whether in the current recession, the depths of Reagan’s Morning in America or the premillennial ennui of the 90s. In taking a grittier approach to the genre and melding it with the Western – the hoariest of the nation’s ego-boosters – Near Dark offers a more visceral reflection of how we entertain ourselves when things start looking grim. Hard times come around again and again, while vampires live forever.

-Michael Kabel

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