Splicing together film genres can be a wonderful thing. It can bring together elements of different movie styles in a way that each one is complimented, and something completely unique is created. However, just like splicing actual DNA one needs to take care...lest unforeseen problems overshadow the result of the experiment. In short, just because a director wants to fuse genres together doesn't mean he should ignore the rules of the individual genres and "wing it".
Our story begins with Jake Lonergan (Daniel Craig) waking up in the middle of nowhere. He has no clue how he got there, his abdomen is wounded, and he's wearing some sort of new-fangled bracelet. Hoping for help, he makes his way into the closest town - a less-than-thriving metropolitan called Absolution. Once there, he sparks the attention of a comely lass named Ella (Olivia Wilde). Why she's interested in him is a mystery - including to Lonergan.
While in town, Lonergan gets mixed up in a fracas with a reckless brat named Percy Dolarhyde (Paul Dano). His involvement manages to get Percy arrested, which doesn't sit so well with Percy's father Woodrow Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford). Woodrow comes into town to have his son released, and while there takes an interest in Lonergan and the reward being offered for his capture.
As Dolarhyde is demanding his son's release, and Lonergan's collar, strange bright lights appear on the horizon. As they approach the town, all hell breaks loose. Seems as though the wild west of the 1800's was of some interest to aliens. What they are, and why they're here is one mystery that panics the townspeople - why they seem to be capturing citizens and abducting them, panics them even further. By the next morning, Lonergan and Dolarhyde find themselves on the same side - looking to find out where the aliens are coming from...finding out what they want, and denying it from them.
COWBOYS & ALIENS is an unforeseen mess. Its opening thirty minutes - detailed in most of the film's trailers - are wonderful. Dropping Lonergan into a Bourne-esque "Amnesiac Badass" situation is played well by Craig. The once-and-future Bond can single-handedly dismantle a band of hooligans with the best of them. Likewise, the introduction of Woodrow Dolarhyde and his vigilante intrusion into the arrest of Lonegan is well-played by Ford. In the early going, both men seem to have a clear read on the sort of film they are in, and deliver precisely what moviegoers like me expected from them.
However, after that initial alien attack on the town, the film loses its way. The film has no interest in following the path of a classic western, nor a run-and-gun modern western. That's forgivable, but when it turns its back on the tropes of science fiction too, it basically shrugs its shoulders at the audience and asks us to "just go with it". We can't. We won't. We don't want to. At this point the narrative has jumped ship, and the posse is looking to beat the aliens just to beat them. There's lip service paid to various members of the team wanting to get friends and family back, but we aren't given any chance to see the personal connections, nor the voids looking to be filled.
In much the same way, the reason for the aliens being here is a flimsy one. It's under-explained and wildly unoriginal. So to summarize, we have cheaply motivated villains, and two-dimensional heroes. However, all is not lost. This is the summertime, remember? Such details of the truly great films can be forgiven so long as there is spectacle and fun. However if it's forgiveness that COWBOYS & ALIENS is after, then it has many more rosaries to recite. There is no set piece in the final three-quarters of this film that will stick with us and be spoken of with joy in summers to come. There's no badass gun play...no extraterrestrial terror. There's just wanderings, and ponderings, and the occasional skirmish.
Perhaps the film would have stood a fighting chance had it focused on Lonergan's evolution a little bit more. We're only given the faintest of brushstrokes towards who he was and what he had done. This is a man with a $10,000 bounty on his head - not exactly pocket change. And yet, along with this dastardly villain that he was supposed to have been, he was also deeply in love with a women whose absence haunts him. The script never pays any of that more than lip service: Basically it ends after noting that the town is named Absolution. We're left as blurry as Lonergan's hazy memory, even after his recollection is cleared in a cheap and preposterous manner.
Note to the five (!) screenwriters credited on this project: Audiences like distinct characters. We like flaws, ambitions, evolutions, and bravado. We hold on to these things, and speak of them warmly as years pass. We might not be able to name you every sidekick or every patriarch, but heavies like Tony Stark, Peter Venkman, Hans Lander, Maximus Decimus Meridius will stay with us for ages.
There's stories to be told about "Space Cowboys", and evidence out that confirms a small but devoted hunger for them. But to pull a quote from my favorite bowling film; "This isn't 'Nam, there are rules". If directors and screenwiters choose to ignore the rules, then odds are their film will suffer a similar fate in the eyes of filmgoers.
What did you think? Please leave comments with your thoughts and reactions to COWBOYS & ALIENS
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Review: COWBOYS & ALIENS * 1/2
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Radio Bomb: The Film Locker episode 9
Any listener who knows anything about Simon Columb and didn;t see this episode coming needs to give their head a shake.
After a more muted turnout for episode eight, we officially move into the final quarter of Series One with the Danny Boyle episode featuring discussion on his 1996 modern classic, TRAINSPOTTING
(If the embedded player doesn't start, please tune in through Podomatic or The iTunes Music Store)
Take a listen, and be sure to check out the Film Locker Blog for further writing, updates, and conversation.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Everybody's Talkin' 7 - 29 (Chatter from Other Bloggers)
More than once in the last two years, someone, somewhere - never the same person twice - has suggested that I check out EQUILIBRIUM. I'm always extolled its virtues, and told how underrated it is. Usually this is all concluded by the explanation that "THE MATRIX came out just before it and out-Equilibrium'd EQUILIBRIUM".
Well, last night I caught it at Toronto Underground during the Defending the Indefensible Series. Every one of y'all that told me I needed to see this over the years? You're stoned. This movie was laughably bad, and I would have called the whole night a miss if it wasn't for the fact that ten of my film geek friends all happened to be at the same showing. A night out to laugh with friends is never a total loss. Luckily I ditched out before they moved on to the second half of the evening's affairs - GHOSTBUSTERS 2.
For your listening and reading fulfillment, I give you...
Reel Insight came back this week! Funny thing - they were only of for a week, but it felt like a whole lot longer. What can I say, a week without Thurogers is like a week without sunshine.
Admit it folks - you've done this.
Wilde.Dash over at Love & Squalor plugged a hole in her pop culture database this week; Take a look as she experiences GHOST for the first time (Full disclosure: Part of this link is the hopes that I can convince Wilde to do me a solid).
Helms is working on some revisionist cinema. I want to contribute, but my brain is tapioca for such things these days.
A Fantasia film I heard good things about was William Eubank's LOVE. I'm hopeful that it turns up in my local scene sooner rather than later. Edgar at Between The Seats has a pretty swell write-up on it, stoking my anticipation even more!
In other film festival news, young Clift is taking in the sights at MIFF this week.
Enjoy!
Thursday, July 28, 2011
It Takes Two (The Double Feature Blog-a-Thon)
Marc from Go, See, Talk wants me to indulge in a geeky dream - the dream of owning and operating my own movie theatre.
What a wonderful world that would be. I can tell you for certain, that my theatre would contain a bar that opened when the films ended so that people could gather and passionately discuss what they'd just seen. Of course, what sort of proprietor would I be if I didn't foster the conversation myself?
But this geeky dream that Marc has planted in my head doesn't come for free. I have to lure patrons in with a creative week of double features. Well, in deciding what sorts of double features I wanted to unfurl, I thought it might be fun to take people away to cities they might dearly love, or cities they might never have seen...
Few people capture Gotham like Woody Allen, and for me there is no movie more quintessentially New York than MANHATTAN. Captured in all its black & white splendour, audiences can begin their week with Gershwin and peaceful benches in front of the Brooklyn Bridge. After that, it's time to let the streets of New York really sing with WEST SIDE STORY. The city gets used in a very different way in this film, but it's still wonderful how Bill Shakespeare's original tale of tragic Italian love can feel so very New York.
Time to hop the pond and head over to Merry Ol'. London was actually a tricky spot to program, since so many films take place there. I decided what was best was to show it's past, and (hopefully not) it's future. We begin in "Swingin' London" of the 1960's with Michael Caine in ALFIE. He'll charm the parts off you - it's what his character does - and leave you asking "Jude who?". After seeing what London was, it's time to sweat out what it hopefully never will be with V FOR VENDETTA. This dystopian tale features the government rallying people with deceptively frightening "Strength through Unity ; Unity through Faith" creedo. However, in this world where government has exceeded its bounds, one man still has something to say...and if he has to, he'll take pull down every historic brick in London to get his message out.
(For this screening, audience members will be given free Guy Fawkes masks)
The city of lights is next, and choosing films for this city was actually a little tough. Many films reference Paris, or take place within it...but I was hoping to find titles where the city itself is more than just a setting. I wanted stories that take us through Paris...not just ones that nod to Paris. BANDE A PARTE is a programming nod to all my fellow movie geeks, as it was a podcasting guest who suggested I track it down. Its iconic scenes have been copied in a few other films, and it will make you want to listen to jazz, smoke, and drive through Pare-eee with the top down. Playing against all that mischief and youthful abandon is the quiet contemplation of BEFORE SUNSET. I'm hoping some other blogger-run-theatre out there will be doing a double feature of this film and its predecessor, but at my joint, audience members can gather, watch the long walk through Paris unfurl, and ask themselves their own "what if" questions.
Thursday: VENICE
Next we go to Venice to look at it from two different perspectives. Actually, of all the entries in this series, this might be the one that takes such opposite views of one city. We'll begin with WINGS OF THE DOVE, which as a period film, makes Venice look very lush and romantic. But just to make sure people don't run too quickly to their travel agent, we'll follow that with DON'T LOOK NOW which actually makes Venice look rather dirty and menacing.
As the weekend begins, we go to japan. Here I'll begin with what I reckon would be a low-attended showing of LOST IN TRANSLATION (I'm discovering a lot of people loathe it). I still like that movie a lot, and I think it's a well-suited entry into this series since it focuses on being a stranger in a strange land and connecting with other strangers. But before you decide to stay home and watch reruns of Friday Night Lights, consider coming for the late show and seeing Godzilla destroy much of Tokyo. If it sweetens the pot, you can imagine that Bob and Charlotte are still canoodling below 'Zilla somewhere and get squished by his giant reptillian foot.
C'mon - you knew this was coming. After a long week, Sunday brings me back home with two of the very best movies representing my hometown. I've written ad nausem about why they best represent this city, so I won't bore you with repetition today. All I will say is that respectively, CHLOE and SCOTT PILGRIM embody how sexy and fun Toronto can be. Hopefully finishing out the week with these films can send the hometown crowd home happy.
$2 off for anyone who presents a bag from Sonic Boom Records and a cocktail napkin from The Rivoli.
If you blog, consider writing an entry for this series before Saturday...if you don't leave a comment with your week of double features.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Every Day is Yours to Win (MONEYBALL Trailer)
With the announcement of TIFF titles yesterday, the focus of this blog will become very festival-centric for a while. Hopefully I don't burn y'all out by the time mid-September rolls around.
Here's a title that will be premiering in Toronto, and while it will go wide the next week, I do believe that I'll have to take the bait and jump on it early.
Get ready to play ball folks...
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
News of The World (TIFF 2011 Galas and Special Presentations Announced)
That time of year agin. The time where my anticipation turns itself up to eleven and I let my movie geek flag fly: TIFF 2011.
Titles of some galas and special presentations were announced today, and for the first time in a long time, the opening night selection is right in my wheelhouse.
Amoung the highlights...
FROM THE SKY DOWN by Davis Guggenheim, a doc about U2
A DANGEROUS METHOD by David Cronenberg starring Viggo Mortensen & Michael Fassbender
THE LADY directed by Luc Besson starring Michelle Yeoh & David Thewlis
TRISHNA directed by Michael Winterbottom starring Freida Pinto & Riz Ahmed
MONEYBALL starring Brad Pitt
PEARL JAM TWENTY by Cameron Crowe
50/50 starring Joseph Gordon Levitt & Seth Rogen
DRIVE by Nicholas Windig starring Ryan Gosling
All the films announced today can be found here.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Midnight Radio: The Matineecast Episode 37
And now for something completely different...
Welcome to the first ever Matineecast where I'm not a part of the conversation. How does that happen you may ask? Well you'll just have to listen to find out.
I do leave you in very capable hands, with two of the three people at the table experienced podcasters themselves. As for the third, she's no stranger to a mic either
Here's the Dave Stieb episode...
(Go here or to iTunes if the embedded player doesn't start)
Here's what's in store in episode thirty-seven...
Runtime
53 minutes, 46 seconds
Up for Discussion
1. HATTER'S PREFACE
2. INTRODUCTION - "Courtyard Apocalypse" by Alexandre Desplat (1:20)
3. KNOW YOUR ENEMY - Learning a bit more about guest hosts Sasha James, Matthew Brown, and "Lady Hatter" Lindsay
4. THE NEW SLANG - DIscussion of THE DEATHLY HALLOWS pt. 2 (15:27)
5. COME TALK TO ME - Hatter comes back to field listener feedback about the Potter film series (39:00)
6. THE BEST OF YOU (sorta) - Back to Sasha, Matt, and Lindsay for a short discussion of their favorite Potter moments (42:24)
7. HATTER'S FINAL THOUGHT - "Do The Hippogriff" by The Weird Sisters
Comments and feedback are welcome - especially curious to know what people think of the format switch - and thank-you very much for listening.
Enjoy!
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Review: CAPTAIN AMERICA - THE FIRST AVENGER * * * 1/2
There doesn't seem to be one right way to adapt a comic book into a movie. Some films want to ground themselves in the reality we know and become "gritty". Some want to wink to the camera, knowing full well the property that they represent. Others want to go the completely fantastical route, and make it crystal clear that the story we are watching is not one of this world.
So what to make of this latest offering...an adaptation that blends the facts and the fictions?
It's 1942, and Uncle Sam needs all the willing and able men he can to fight Hitler and his forces of evil.
In Brooklyn, young Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is plenty willing, but very far from able. He's a pipsqueak who's likely 90lbs soaking wet (while holding a brick). Despite multiple tries at being enlisted, he is continually declared "4F" and denied enlistment. While at the 1942 Stark Expo, Rogers is spotted trying to enlist (again) by a scientist named Erskine (Stanley Tucci). Erskine sees something in Rogers no one else has yet, and recruits him into a platoon that will be tested to find a suitable candidate for Erskine's project.
The platoon, commanded by Col. Chester Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones) are all three times his size. When it becomes clear though, that Rogers is faraway the smartest and bravest soldier, he is officially selected to become America's first Super Soldier. If the process works, then Erskine and Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper) will turn frail little Rogers into a perfect human specimen.
A perfect specimen is dearly needed too, since a splinter group of Nazis are posing a real threat. The division calls itself Hydra - named for the mythical creature that would be decapitated and respond by growing two heads where once there was one. The platoon is led by Johann Schmidt, aka "Red Skull" (Hugo Weaving). Along with the fact that he seems more focused than Hitler, Red Skull is greatly feared by The Army since they suspect he has tapped into an unnatural power source. Should he manage to turn it on The Allies, the whole war could be over in a hurry.
A little history: The character Captain America was created in 1940. This of course was one year into World War II, and the character was a deliberate tug at people's patriotism. One year later, when America joined the fray after Pearl Harbor, Cap became an even bigger symbol of stepping up for the cause. His stories had him doing battle with Japanese and Nazi soldiers, and even burst on to the scene of printed comics by socking one to Der Führer.
Origin stories feel a dime a dozen these days, but the way this one blends fact and fiction gives it oxygen. The film easily could have stuck to the evolution of Steve Rogers: Super Soldier. The movie could have introduced us to the pipsqueak, pumped him full of Vita-Ray and tossed him into the fight as "The Ultimate Weapon". That's what so many other comic-based films have done, and that's why so many have failed to elevate themselves. Instead, when Cap is dry-docked into morale boosting, the whole film becomes self-aware and in so doing, takes a step above the rest.
Morale during wartime is a strange animal. Sometimes the support for a mission is high, sometimes it's low. Sometimes it begins high then drops low. This movie wants us to remember the way the call used to go forth...in days before we changed our Facebook profile pictures to support ribbons. It's easy to forget now, but it's arguable that during the time this film is set in, icons like Rosie the Riveter and Rosenthal's Iwo Jima Photo rallied enough support to keep morale up - and keep the money coming in.
That's not to say this film gets everything right. The counterweight to all that time spent showing Cap as a morale booster, is that when time comes for him to properly join the fray, we're only given a montage of the Super Soldier crippling Hydra's positions. This is a bit unfortunate, since the raids that we do see proper are pretty exciting (likewise Cap's first unofficial engagement on the streets of Brooklyn). It's an unfortunate sacrifice, but at the same time I can't think of any way around it.
A big piece of what makes this film work so well is its overall aesthetic (and I'm not just talking about Evans' physique...though high praise to his trainer). I was unsure of what we'd see when Joe Johnston was announced as the director of this film, but in hindsight I should have known better. Marvel Studios wanted to tell us a story about The Greatest Generation and have it drip with sepia toned nostalgia. Who better to do that than the guy who brought THE ROCKETEER to life?
Johnston's vision for the story might be off-putting to some, but in these superhero trolly-tracks in which we find ourselves, having a director have such a distinctive tone and setting for a movie should be heralded as a welcome change. If you're going to build upon all of the aforementioned rah-rah - and infuse it with Saturday Matinee sensibilities - then making it look like it could share a double bill with Indiana Jones is an inspired move.
CAPTAIN AMERICA might not be the film everybody wanted...but in a lot of ways, it was the film we all needed right now. As a character, Cap is an icon to rally behind. We're living in days where so many things seems to want to pull us apart - remembering what happens when we pull together might be worth a moment or two of our time and attention. Beyond that, the film ends off the summer of the superhero with a very distinctive decree:
The superhero genre isn't dead or played out yet. What will matter going forward, is making these movies with a great deal of vision, tapping into what makes the character truly unique, and using that brush to paint the screen.
What did you think? Please leave comments with your thoughts and reactions to CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Days of The Week (Films Watched 7/16 - 7/22)
True story: Between watching far too many movies, editing two podcasts this week, and plugging away at some other writing projects, I've been staying up until 2am or later a lot lately. As a consequence, I've also been oversleeping in the morning. Of course the oversleeping hasn't been helped by the fact that my alarm was going off 40 minutes later than it's supposed to. Yep - winner, right here.
Interestingly the watchlist this week is a potent brew. The quantity of watches is way down (and likely will be for a few more weeks), but of the five movies I did watch, four of them were screenings and the fifth one was a film I've never seen before. Quality over quantity, right?
Here's what was on tap...
Screenings
THE IRON GIANT - Finally got to see one of the very best animated films in all its big-screen glory.
30 MINUTES OR LESS - Y'all are gonna love it.
PARIS JE T'AIME - It wasn't a date!
CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER - Review coming soon, I suspect I liked it more than some.
Blu-Rays/DVD's I've Never Seen
THE WEDDING BANQUET - The only Ang Lee film I'd never seen, and damn is it a gem!
Boxscore for The Year
137 First-Timers, 93 Re-Watched
230 Movies in Total
How's about you - seen anything good?
Radio Bomb: The Film Locker episode 8
As I figured, the David Fincher episode went off like gangbusters. can Simon and I build on the momentum? We'll certainly do our best as we round out the third quarter of the show.
This week we go for the high octane heist. Michael Mann is up in episode eight, with discussion of one of my all-time favorite films: HEAT.
(If the embedded player doesn't start, please tune in through Podomatic or The iTunes Music Store)
Take a listen, and be sure to check out the Film Locker Blog for further writing, updates, and conversation.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Everybody's Talkin' 7 - 22 (Chatter from Other Bloggers)
Consider yourself warned folks - next week it begins. Beginning Tuesday, you'll heard one word...one syllable...repeated over and over on this sight for seven or eight weeks:
"TIFF"
Announcement of the opening night entry, and likely a few of the primo selections, comes down on the 26th...and you know I'll have you covered.
Speaking of my favorite local indulgence, this last week felt like training for the festival, as somehow or another I managed to find myself at five screenings in six days! Pretty sure this is officially a sickness. While I look for a cure, take a listen to some folks with healthier habits.
For your listening and reading fulfillment, I give you...
Going back a little bit, the gals of Some Cast It Hot had fun swooning over MIDNIGHT IN PARIS this week. Go see the film if you haven't already, then give a listen and play everybody's favorite new game: "Is that Alex or Sasha?"
You still have two days to get in on Rich's "My Hometown" Blog-a-Thon. Write 'em up people, and if you're not a writer, be a reader and tune into his site this weekend to see the entries.
Year-in and year-out, I learn about more and more film festivals I'd like to attend. Last year, Kurt Halfyard piqued my interest in Fantasia in Montreal, and this year he might have finally sold me on it once and for all.
Andy Buckle remembers his first time(s).
You know those movies that you love, that you've seen dozens of times, and when you come across while flipping channels you instantly stop doing whatever else you were doing? For me, that's OUT OF SIGHT. The Void watched it this week and put together this great write up.
If you're new to blu-ray, Marc at Go! See! Talk! talks you through the A-B-C's.
Enjoy!
Thursday, July 21, 2011
I Get Around: PARIS JE T'AIME @ Harbourfront
A funny thing happened on the way to scratching one more off the watchlist...
I had plans on braving the heat two nights ago and catching an outdoor screening of PARIS JE T'AIME alone at Harbourfront here in the city. (Not to The Locals: if you do want to be outdoors but don't want to dehydrate in sixty seconds, the waterfront makes for a nicely breezy respite). Lo and behold, midday didn't my phone start buzzing with a friend offering her company.
So as we settled into a (surprisingly packed) screening and indulged in the Parisian goodness, I suddenly felt a funny feeling wash over me. The feeling was one of being out of place.
Here I was watching story after story of different types of love, each of them dedicated to a different region of a city I've never been to but have long wanted to see. For a few moments I felt myself beginning to drown in thoughts of the left bank, Claude Monet, and Bande a Parte. Seriously folks, I was *this* close to Gil Pender territory.
But then something unexpected happened. A big play must have unfolded at The Rogers Centre, because the crowd erupted with cheers. And even though the stadium is a solid three or four city blocks from the screening, with the roof open the sound carries pretty well. Suddenly I was yanked out of my daydreams and acutely aware that I was sitting on a bench in Toronto. The CN Towers blinking lights winked in my periphery...the seagulls echoed in my ears.
I oddly felt like a fraud - like the person who only yanks a team's jersey out of mothballs when they make the semi-finals. It was the direct contrast that brought this up: that I was enjoying something designed to celebrate summer in my city, but all the while focusing on another city. I felt like I was on a date with another woman but "thinking about her the whole time".
Clearly, this wouldn't have happened in a cinema - nor of course at home on the comfort of my couch. While I did of course dearly love the film, it was an odd experience all around, and one I never could have seen coming. I'm sure it will pass though - my next scheduled outdoor screening involves Muppets.
I'm certain I can immerse myself in that film without feeling any geographical infidelity.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
One Chance (HUGO Trailer)
Hey, did that Batman teaser get released?
Here's one that seems to be dividing people. On the one hand, it seems as though this film - shot in 3-D - is employing a lot of gimmickry in its look. It isn't just going for depth, it's going back to the cornier tricks of stuff coming out of the screen at you over and over.
But...and I can't stress this this too forcefully...it's Marty-effin'-Scorsese!
If any director in Hollywood has earned my benefit of the doubt, it's this man. Thus, in November, you can be sure that I'll be putting the glasses back on
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Heart of The City (CHLOE in My Hometown Blog-a-Thon)
Rich over at Wide Screen World is hosting a blog-a-thon this week called "My Hometown"...and when I think about my hometown in film, I can't help but crack a smile.
For a lot of reasons - financial, convenient, aesthetic - Toronto has been the staging ground for many a rolling camera over the years. The reason I smile though, is that in almost every instance Toronto does not get to play itself. Instead "Hogtown" has stood in for New York, Chicago, Boston, Munich, Tokyo, Baltimore, and Detroit to name a few.
But once in a while, my city has been able to do its own stunts. One such instance happened last year, in a film that might have used Toronto better than any film that came before it. Some (rather spoilerific) thoughts on Atom Egoyan's CHLOE after the jump...
Chloe, played by Amanda Seyfried is a high class escort - smart, young, pretty, and clean. In other words, she isn't the sort of prostitute you'll find walking the streets at night (though we do have those here too). No, in order to get a few moments to find a working girl like Chloe, Julianne Moore's character Catherine has to go to a very swank restaurant called 'One'...the sort of joint where even the soup is $13
There's a romanticism in the air in this scene, the sort of thing that bars and restaurants in this area of the city (Yorkville) tend to specialize in. You'd hope so, if you're going to hand over that much money in a gourmet joint - and in this case pour your soul out to a prostitute - the least they can do is light some candles for ambiance.
Catherine bumped into Chloe once before through chance, but now she wants to actually hire her. She thinks her husband David (Liam Neeson) is cheating on her, and she believes that Chloe might be just the sort of bait she needs to prove it. She sets her plan in motion by telling Chloe to look for David at cafe Diplimatico on a Saturday morning.
Now this joint I am familiar with as I have been there for many a breakfast, lunch, and dinner over the years. It's an interesting little spot in a bustling neighbourhood, the sort of restaurant you can dress up or down depending on your mood. Its vibe is overall quite casual, the sort of place I like to go for a coffee-for-one. This it's not too hard for me to figure out why David would frequent such a place.
Cafe Diplimatico has these gigantic windows that face west, so during the day, the place tends to be drenched in this bright natural light...which creates quite a radiant and flattering effect on its patrons. I don't believe for a second that director Atom Egoyan didn't flood it with a bit more light just to be sure, but nevertheless, if you were looking to see someone you think is lovely look ever the more lovely, Diplimatico in the morning in the place to go.
When time comes to regale the story to Catherine, Chloe meets up with her at a spot called The Rivoli, which I've been to once or twice. What's interesting about the Rivoli is the way it's many things to many people. It's a bar, it's a restaurant, it's a club. You can go there to have a great lunch, or you can go there to see an amazing band. In essence, it's whatever you want it to be - much like our heroine.
When Chloe sits Catherine down to give her the whole sordid story, they sit in the front window - filling the frame with Queen Street West behind them. I've mentioned this before about other films, but this is what fascinates me about life in a big city. You often find yourself having deeply intimate conversations - painfully intimate sometimes - while hustle and bustle surrounds you. Chloe and Catherine at least have a pain of glass to hide behind, but nary a day goes by where someone doesn't argue with their family, air out dirty laundry, or sometimes even make a professional misstep with tons of strangers surrounding them.
Chloe tells Catherine that she and David spent their time together at Allen Gardens - a greenhouse in the middle of a downtown park.
Interesting thing about the greenhouse, it's a handy stop during the winter when weather can get bitterly cold in this town. It allows a peaceful escape: a chance to unbutton your coat, surround yourself with natural life, drown in daylight and pretend you're somewhere else for a little while.
That illusion of stepping outside of the true, cold, Toronto can be echoed by stepping outside of oneself. If you're going to pretend you aren't surrounded by the dead of winter, why not pretend you're not surrounded by marital vows?
Confession: Lady Hatter and I have spent a few afternoons in this greenhouse...but never have the passions bubbled to this level. Maybe there's a section I didn't notice with more aphrodisiac foliage.
For some reason, Catherine hasn't heard enough after all of this, so she goes to track down Chloe again. this time she finds her at The Windsor Arms.
This hotel is back in Yorkville, so as like the restaurant they first met at, you can almost smell the money as you walk in the door. Catherine finds Chloe here late in a "shift". Thus again, we're reminded that talent like Chloe's doesn't come cheap.
I've only ever walked outside of The Windsor Arms, a hotel that dates back to the late 20's. Seeing the inside of it within the plot of a movie is a little surreal, but I'm happy I finally got a glimpse (Can't afford to stay there, and probably wouldn't even if I could). Looking at some of these shots, I see small traces of The Bradbury Building in L.A.
The plot thickens during a recital performed by Catherine and David's son Michael. He performs in the recital hall of The Royal Conservatory of Music. Egoyan gets high marks here for utilizing a rather new space in my city. having just been given a massive reno, The Conservatory is an intriguing hybrid of modern additions to an old structure. When walking through it however, one can't help but feel dwarfed by its design. Thus, when Catherine gets yet another reminder of David's infidelities, her frustrations likewise drown her like the notes of the powerful music The Conservatory is known for.
As Catherine leaves in a huff, she makes her way towards Philosopher's Walk with The Crystal of the Royal Ontario Museum rising in the background. here Egoyan does something truly intriguing. The Crystal is a divisive entity in Toronto - many locals hate the look of it, precious few truly love it. What Egoyan has done though, is used its design to his advantage and given it a purpose. On this night, Catherine feels betrayed...angry...cracked. Completing the effect, is that gorgeous zig-zag in The Crystal that she is walking right towards.
So yeah...what better way to get back at your spouse for cheating on you..than...y'know...
As Catherine taxis away from this hazy, lusty, dream of a night, the coloured lights of Yorkville in the winter twinkle in the backdrop. Momentarily suggesting that perhaps this is all fantasy.
The next morning as catherine begins to come to her senses, Egoyan pulls his next trick. That grand arch you see behind her? It makes for an elegant backdrop a few times in the film. The kicker is that if you took a photo of it and polled ten Torontonians, I'd bet you no more than two could tell you where it is. Egoyan frames it and suggests that it carries the majesty of L'Arc de Triomphe. Truth is, it's just a very pretty roadway into a condo complex.
Not every note in CHLOE works. When Catherine calls Chloe up, hoping to get some distance between them, Chloe takes the call standing in front of The Art Gallery of Ontario. Now truthfully, this spot is very much in the loop that the film has been running - Allen Gardens and The Rivoli are indeed nearby. However, Chloe being in this particular spot comes without rhyme or reason. So in a sense, the landmark's inclusion feels like a form of stunt casting. It'd be like a film set in London's West End suddenly taking a moment and filming a scene in front of Buckingham Palace.
This brings us almost back to the beginning. Catherine decides to confront David once and for all at Diplimatico. Remember what I said about dressing it up or dressing it down? Compare the aesthetic of it in these frames to the ones of David and Chloe earlier. If you didn't know better, you might think for a moment that this restaurant is uptown in Yorkville too.
Once again, you live in public in this town. Sometimes you just can't wait for the bad news to pass...just gotta cry in your soup.
Nearing the end of their emotional teather, David and Catherine step outside of Diplimatico on to College Street. In many ways this is fitting since it's more of a genuine neighbourhood than Yorkville - which is almost exclusively where we've seen them together. Here they are forced to be honest with one another, unable to hide behind any fancy settings or prestigious jobs. They finally have it out as genuine people with genuine feelings...and once again, they're having this conversation in public.
After all the cards have been played, Catherine and David find themselves on a patio that is closed for the winter. Like their marriage, it is in a state of limbo, but has the promise of wonderful things when the conditions improve. A detail that you can barely notice in this frame is the streetcar passing behind them. The streetcar makes a particular noise as it passes through the roads of this town, and during the final conversation between Catherine and David, it dots the discussion like the heavy sighs these people want to let out.
I live in this city. I have all my life, and I might be here for the rest. I do love it, but have never seen the romanticism in it that Atom Egoyan found with his lens for CHLOE. Sadly, the film doesn't completely work...but as I zero in on how he was able to turn Toronto into a heartbeat for this story, I'm left proud of the city I've called home.
And a little turned on.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Review: MEEK'S CUTOFF * * *
It's crazy to think that there's anything left to say in the western genre. After all, the style has been around since the very earliest of films...and all its fairy tales have all been told.
But just when you thought you've seen all there is to see from men in white hats and men in black hats, along comes MEEK'S CUTOFF to tell you something new.
MEEK'S CUTOFF is the story of a band of settlers moving across the Oregon High Desert in the late 19th century. Their guide, Stephen Meek (Bruce Greenwood) has taken them on a route that has more than doubled the estimate travel time, leaving supplies and morale a tad low.
The men; Solomon, Thomas and William (Will Patton, Paul Dano and Tommy Nelson) aren't sure just how much more rope they should give their trusty guide. The women; Emily, Glory, and Millie (Michelle Williams, Shirley Henderson,and Zoe Kazan) can only hang back and try to deal with their unrest while tending to the camp and their families.
Right about the time things seem like they can't possibly get more uncertain, the pilgrims run into a lone native man. Thus to all the questions they already have, two more are added:
Can this person possibly help us? And even if he can, should we trust him?
Fair warning: MEEK'S CUTOFF isn't for everybody. If your typical western film is a slow burn, then MEEKS'S CUTOFF is the glowing ember left when the flames die. It will require attention, patience and grace - and that might not be what you are looking for in a film. But if you are interested in such things at the cinemas, then read on.
This is a film about the unease of a journey. Think about any trip you've taken where you and a fellow traveller have disagreed on the route. Take that feeling of tension and complicate it with unfamiliarity, power dynamics, and a survival struggle and you have this movie. We step into a setting where the men lead the migration and the women follow well behind. They know the stakes just as well as the men do - probably even better - but when decisions are made they are made well away from the women's earshot.
There's not much in this world as frustrating as being out of the loop, and when "the loop" is deciding on matter of life and death, frustration can turn to anger or panic in a hurry...and right on cue, we notice that Emily is angry, and Glory is panicked. It's a sad, tense state of affairs and one that was likely far too common back then. There's a reason why military officers don't want their soldiers to see them wrestle with a decision - because doubt breeds dissent. The hitch is that in this case, the dissent coming from Emily and Glory is deserved. Their officers - the men - really don't know what they're doing, and it's putting everybody's lives in jeopardy.
Something that makes MEEK'S CUTOFF so memorable is the way it juxtaposes the vastness and the claustrophobia of the frontier. The film includes some wonderfully composed photography that sticks with you like a bright purple flower pushing up through the dead, grey plains. It impressively captures that duality that comes with a pilgrimage across the frontier: the way ot seems to go on forever in every direction, but also seems to close in on you and feel like there's no escape.
The temptation with such visuals is to spread them out, making the vistas spread as wide as our eyeline can handle. But in a daring move, director Kelly Reighardt has shot this film with a tight "square" 4:3 aspect ratio...evoking the line of sight the women on this journey would experience with their bonnets on. The lovely side effect of course, is that the women's line of sight is so limited, and yet they can see what's going on far clearer than their men.
I say "they" when I should really be saying "she"...as in Michelle Williams. Her work as Emily is bold, and continues a wonderful run she's been on in recent years. She brings a toughness that we see from the very start - a sort of intuition that they other women in the caravan don't have. So when time comes to make a stand, it comes as no surprise that she's the one to stand up, speak up, and do so without hysterics or drama.
MEEK'S CUTOFF doesn't want to dazzle us with the sexiness of a western so much as it wants to intimidate us with the logistics of a western. It wants us to consider the harsh realities of traversing the unknown terrain, and putting our faith into the unknown. If the typical western includes the jacked heart rate of a gunslinger pointing his pistol at you, MEEK'S CUTOFF delivers the unsettling dream of the gunslinger merely resting his hand on the holster.
Note: I'm reviewing and rating this film based on a bad screening experience. The only showing I could find of MEEK'S CUTOFF was projected far too dim; so much so that the nighttime scenes were pitch black images dotted by splashes of firelight. Were I able to experience it properly, my enjoyment and opinion of the film could easily change for the better - MH
What did you think? Please leave comments with your thoughts and reactions to MEEK'S CUTOFF.
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