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| Peter Gabriel, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 2014 |
4/23/2014 Peter Gabriel - Back to Front, 2014
I love Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, Genesis and pretty much every associated act, and I have traveled several times in the past couple of years to see Peter and Steve Hackett and even one of the many Genesis tribute bands. So, it might seem unnecessary to pay more money to see a filmed version of a concert that I have already seen (or it totally makes sense, it probably depends on your perspective). The movie was presented as part of the Fathom Events shows that you might see in movie previews. Normally, I love to be alone in the theater, but I was kind of hoping for a better turnout (it was early, 7:30, but on a weeknight), but I think there were only 10 people in the theater. This helped to confirm my belief that Minnesota, while home to great alternative rock, Prince, etc., it is not a big place for Progressive Rock. That sad realization aside, I enjoyed the movie, directed by Hamish Hamilton, who has directed many concert films. This footage was taken from the Back to Front Tour concert in London in October 2013. It reunited the players from Gabriel's watershed album, "So" (Manu Katche, Tony Levin, David Rhodes and David Sancious) plus Jennie Abrahamson and Linnea Olsson on backing vocals. The film intercuts commentary from all the musicians and some vintage footage from past concerts. I enjoyed the film, but having actually been to the concert, it didn't capture the energy and crazy passion that Gabriel fans have for his music. It will be released on DVD, so you can check it out for yourself. There was a big deal made of the film techniques (the ratio, high-def, blah blah), honestly, it didn't look any different than other films I have seen on the big screen. (Peter Gabriel picture courtesy of Cris).
4/26/2014 Jodorowsky's Dune, 2013
I was back at home in Cleveland last week and so of course I had to go to my theater, The Cedar-Lee, for at least one movie. I usually go by myself, but my little brother said he would go with me. I wasn't sure he would be up for Jodorowsky's Dune, but he said it sounded interesting. Well, alrighty then. I'm not a huge science fiction fan or of surrealism, but I love documentaries. This was a documentary about a film that never actually got made. Alejandro Jodorowsky is a Mexican filmmaker who had made a few very 'out there' films in the late 1960s and early 1970s when he decided he wanted to tackle Frank Herbert's Dune. The movie gives us a little background into Jodorowsky's style and then his grand plan to assemble his 'warriors' to create Dune. He was crazy ambitious, and I don't know if other movies get the same kind of prep work that Dune did, but wow, what a lot of effort was put into just the drawings and story boarding. Jodorowsky gradually assembled three artists to put his (and their) concepts onto paper: Jean Giraud (Moebius), Chris Foss and H.R. Giger came from different art backgrounds, but I was extremely captivated by their artwork, especially Giraud's. Dune came after 2001: A Space Odyssey but before the universe of Star Wars, and Jodorowsky had very ambitious ideas for the film, and as it turned out, too ambitious and way ahead of its time. Ultimately, the rights to the film were sold to Dino DeLaurentiis and eventually Dune, with Sting and Kyle MacLachlan, was released to much hilarity but not much success.At the end of movie, Jodorowsky mentioned that perhaps Dune could be made into an animated film using the artwork from Giraud, Foss and Giger, and I think that would be SO cool; or at the least, I would love a book with some of the prints. They are so visually impactful. If you are a science fiction fan or a fan of the visual arts, I highly recommend this movie. It's also a great 'prequel' to so many of the science fiction films that came after, and it's interesting to see some of the motifs and how other directors used Jodorowsky as an influence, especially since Dune was never released.
4/27/2014 The Grand Budapest Hotel, 2014
As luck would have it, my brother mentioned that he really wanted to see The Grand Budapest Hotel, and I really wanted to see it AND it was at The Cedar-Lee. I think it was a sign. I really loved Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom, the dialog, the performances and the artwork, and I couldn't wait to see The Grand Budapest Hotel after seeing the previews. We were not disappointed, Ralph Fiennes was perfectly cast as Monsieur Gustave H. and Tony Revolori held his own as Zero, the lobby boy and the Robin to Gustave's Batman. The story is told in a kind of flashback, with F. Murray Abraham and Jude Law telling the story that is set in the early 1930s during the grand era of hotels and pre-World War II. Gustave H. is the concierge at the Grand Budapest and is known to go to great lengths to make sure his elderly female clientele is especially taken care of. One of them leaves him a valuable painting which incurs the wrath of the woman's family and so begins the adventure. There are a lot of actors that pop in and out of the story very quickly, and if you blink, you may miss them (the makeup is quite good - Tilda Swinton is barely recognizable). I'm not even really sure the plot is all that important, at least not to me. I just loved the characters and the action, some of it reminded me of something from a silent movie. I don't know if the chase scenes are an Anderson motif, but there were some similar scenes in Moonrise Kingdom, and I thought they were so well done, very classic. What surprised me was how much my brother loved the movie, so much so that he got Moonrise Kingdom from the library that afternoon. I will be very disappointed if The Grand Budapest Hotel is not nominated for at least a couple of awards in the technical categories (art direction, cinematography, make up).
4/30/2014 Broken Circle Breakdown, nominated for Best Foreign Film, 2013
For some strange reason, I cannot bring myself to watch the winner of the Oscar for Best Foreign Film, The Great Beauty (which I have sitting on my television), but I did get in Broken Circle Breakdown, the nominee from Belgium. The movie is not told in straight chronological order, and sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn't, and I think this is a case of the latter. I say 'thinks' because I'm still not sure how I feel about the movie. I think a chronological telling of the story would have given us time to know the characters and really feel with them. We meet Elise and Didier; Elise is a tattoo artist and Didier lives on a farm and is in an American-style bluegrass band. They fall in love and eventually Elise gets pregnant. At first, Didier is surprised and upset at this development, but he loves their little girl, Maybelle. The movie features several performances (eventually Elise joins the band) and as with Inside Llewyn Davis, I thought the music was a highlight of the film. Maybelle gets sick and her illness takes a toll on the relationship. There were moments I thought they could survive, that their love was stronger than outside forces, and then my hope was dashed. One of the 'conflicts' of the film seemed minor in the beginning, but seemed to be what brought everything down, and that was the Elise and Didier's differing opinions on religion versus science. Didier is very matter of fact when it comes to life and death - you die, it's over. Period. Which, as Elise tells him, and he kind of realizes, you can't really say to a child. Towards the end of the film, Didier has an outburst, ranting against religion and the role it has played in hindering scientific research on illnesses, like the one that Maybelle suffers from. This seems to be the end for Elise, who does hold religious beliefs, but I think she also doesn't feel like it's productive to be so hateful and angry. I was not totally shocked by the way the movie ended, but I somehow felt let down, I had more hope for the two of them, and I thought their love would get them through the difficulties of Maybelle's illness. I'm not really a romantic, but I guess in this case I am. It's probably not everyone's cup of tea, but I am glad I saw it.
5/4/14 The Amazing Spider-Man 2, 2014
(sigh) I live in hope and die in despair. I'm a Cleveland fan, I'm used to disappointment, but a mere 8 hours after seeing Spider-Man 2, I am more than disappointed, I'm annoyed. Since the movie just came out, I don't want to give away any spoilers, but what I will say is wait until it comes to your cheap theater, and maybe try an evening show so some idiot parents don't bring their chatty children and sit right next to you (although in fairness, they didn't sit next to me, but next to my friends). I do like Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man, he brings the right amount of smart aleck, much more to my liking than Toby Maguire. The special effects for the webslinger to swing from building to building are so much better, and that really was a highlight. the storytelling is very weak, and I don't like bringing in Peter Parker's parents and this weird all encompassing conspiracy theory with Richard Parker and Oscorp. And can we please stop tapping the Green Goblin well? There are plenty of bad guys in Spider-Man's arsenal. But please do not mention Rhino, that was so superfluous and just a lame attempt to bring in more villains, but the connection was so tenuous, it was stupid and I said a bad word, or two at the end. Jamie Foxx was not terrible as Electro, there seemed to be a lot of questions as to whether he could pull it off; I just don't think the storyline was very good. My brother sent me a text after he saw it on Friday and saw it was 'pure awesomeness'. I sent him a text today saying we would have to agree to disagree, because I did not think it was awesome at all. I will also say that people are stupid and if you must send texts throughout the whole 2 1/2 hours of the film, maybe your dumbass should have stayed home. Oh yes, the movie was 2 1/2 hours, not including trailers. And if you think it's okay for you and your child to chat through the movie - STAY HOME. We are not amused, nor do we think that your child is cute. I can't wait for the next X-Men movie, but I hope I'm not disappointed or annoyed. Fingers crossed.
