Notes on a Scandal

Directed by: Richard Eyre

Written by: Patrick Marber

Starring: Cate Blanchett, Judi Dench, Andrew Simpson and Bill Nighy.

During these winter months when Grade A movies are playing in every theatre, hoping for your attention (and that of Mr. Oscar), one may find themselves annoyed with all of the choices. Seriously; it saddens and frustrates me that there are, for once, TOO many films I’d like to see.

Considering that this is the case, you’ll understand how much I loved Notes on a Scandal when I tell you that I’d go see it a second or third time before I getting around to any of the other contenders.  The story, adapted from Zoe Heller’s novel, is simple. An older teacher, Barbara, befriends a younger teacher, Sheba. Barbara discovers a shocking secret and uses it to get closer to her new companion, who’s found herself in more than one dangerous situation. First things first: Dame Judi Dench is awe-inspiring and deliciously evil as Barbara. Not only is her performance amazing, but she deserves tons of respect for the daring roles she takes on. It’s a shame that the Oscar for best actress is already practically inscribed with Helen Mirren’s name because Dench is flawless here.

Cate Blanchett as Sheba isn’t too bad herself. You find yourself feeling sympathetic for Sheba despite the situation she’s in and the awful choices she makes throughout the film. Andrew Simpson and the consistently brilliant Bill Nighy are perfectly cast as well. This is an ideal film to see if you simply love being drawn in by a good story and watching good actors do what they do best. A serious contender for one of my favorite films of 2006.

Rick Sayre – Pop-Culture Junkie

Children of Men

Directed by: Alfonso Cuarón

Written by: Alfonso Cuarón, Timothy J. Sexton, David Arata, Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby.

Starring: Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Michael Caine, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Claire-Hope Ashitey, Pam Ferris, Danny Huston and Peter Mullen.

During a recent Charlie Rose roundtable interview with fellow directors (and friends) Guillermo del Toro and Alejandro González Iñárritu, writer-director Alfonso Cuarón spoke at length about the common themes that these three members of the “new wave” of Mexican cinema share. He talked primarily about their fascination with children: the relationships that they have with adults, with one another, and how they view the world.

If you’ve ever seen a Guillermo del Toro film this theory should come as no surprise to you but with Iñárritu and Cuarón, the theme is not as obvious. Yes, Cuarón directed A Little Princess and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, undoubtedly still the best in the series thus far, but he also directed Great Expectations and Y tu mama tambien, two films that were definitely not intended for children. Yet when you delve a little deeper into each of these films, the thread begins to slowly unravel and reveal itself in the characters of Finn, Tenoch and Julio—in their naiveté, in their rare, tender friendships and points of view.

Cuarón’s latest film, the masterful Children of Men, is an astonishing vision from beginning to end. From the first opening scenes you are thrust into a world where all hope has been lost and mankind has been uprooted by the threat of extinction. Since women can no longer have children, and the youngest person, a teenager by all accounts, has just died, the joy of a child’s smile and laughter has been replaced by the sound of car bombs, sirens, bullets and immigration raids (a topic that is clearly on Cuarón’s mind).

The strangest thing about Children of Men is that although it is supposed to represent a distant apocalyptic future, it feels very much rooted in today’s world (a reality that haunted me for days after watching the film). That is due largely in part to the emotional performances by Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Caine, Claire-Hope Ashitey and Clive Owen. Owen truly carries the film on his shoulders (although I would argue that he actually carries it on his face) and, as George Clooney commented on recently in an interview with GQ, his masculinity on-screen is palpable. The fact that Owen and Cuarón were completely ignored at this year’s Academy Awards comes as no surprise to me, but the absence of thunderous acclaim and success for the film does. Cuarón is truly a visionary artist in any language and Children of Men is his latest work of art.

Lily Percy - Editor

The Painted Veil

Directed by: John Curran

Written by: Ron Nyswaner

Starring: Edward Norton, Naomi Watts, Live Schreiber and Toby Jones.

The Painted Veil was made by the director and writer of We Don’t Live Here Anymore and Soldier’s Girl, John Curran and Ron Nyswaner, respectively, two films that I love and respect dearly (particularly the latter). Throw in Edward Norton and Live Schreiber, two men that I can never say no to, and you’ve got yourself one enthusiastic audience member.

The film is based on the novel by W. Somerset Maugham, which tells the story of Walter Fane, a doctor who is sent to Shanghai to a government lab that is studying infectious diseases. Before leaving for China he falls in love with Kitty, a wealthy young woman who marries Walter out of disdain and boredom for her current life. Upon arriving in Shanghai Kitty soon realizes what she has actually gotten herself into: a loveless marriage in a completely foreign country. What follows is the stuff that Merchant/Ivory films are made of: she has an affair with an American diplomat (played by the gorgeous Liev Schreiber); soon thereafter the affair is exposed and Walter grows disgusted with Kitty; he is called to move to a remote area of the country where a cholera epidemic is quickly spreading and Kitty is forced to go with him.

The story does not end there, of course, but half the fun of watching a classic romance is watching it unfold surprisingly on-screen. Suffice to say that the film does not disappoint and in fact lives up to the expectations of the genre. I haven’t felt my bosom heave or had such a strong desire to swoon since 1999’s Mansfield Park.

Edward Norton, an acting chameleon in the very best sense of the phrase, and Naomi Watts are terrific as Mr. and Mrs. Fane (they also, coincidentally, served as the film’s producers). Their relationship focused so much on what was never said, on restrained silence, and yet even with that heady task Norton and Watts light up the screen with their intense chemistry.

Making a sweeping romantic film in these times is no small feat but with Oscar season in full force, The Painted Veil slipped into theaters almost entirely unnoticed. In a sea of contenders many equally great films often get lost in the shuffle—hopefully this film will find its audience on DVD.

Lily Percy - Editor

DVD'S:

The Premiere Frank Capra Collection

Oh, how I wish I lived in a Frank Capra film. The world his characters exist in is a place where people always find their way, usually with the help of their fellow man. James Stewart and Gary Cooper, the stars of Capra’s films, are American icons. Their classic characters, Mr. Deeds and Mr. Smith, are examples of all that was good in mankind. Call me cynical, but there’s not an actor around today who can exude this kind of goodness, or even hint at it. There’s not a director like Capra, either, and the 5 films in this new box set serve as the best evidence of this.

From 1932’s American Madness to 1939’s Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (and beyond the box set to that old chestnut, It’s a Wonderful Life), Capra’s movies have one giant common thread: Faith that deep down, people will do the right thing. It’s this wonderful sense of morality that makes these films shine. (Well, the great actors help, too.) Capra worked with several of the same actors many times and there are plenty of excellent performances by regulars Lionel Barrymore, Jean Arthur and James Stewart to be found in the set. Barrymore is particularly loveable in You Can’t Take It With You—miles away from his role as Mr. Potter in Wonderful Life.

A bit of the odd man out is It Happened One Night. Thematically different from the other titles in the set, it is still a classic comedy, with an enjoyable performance by Clark Gable. Each disc includes commentaries, with special remembrances by Frank Capra, Jr. Also included is the feature length documentary, Frank Capra’s American Dream, a wonderful insight into a true legend. Reality is very rarely as Capraesque as we wish it could be. Until then, I recommend repeat viewings of these films in large doses. 

Rick Sayre – Pop-Culture Junkie

The Illusionist

Written and directed by: Neil Burger

Starring: Edward Norton, Paul Giamatti, Jessica Biel and Rufus Sewell.

Edward Norton had quite a stellar year in 2006. Down in the Valley, The Illusionist and The Painted Veil all featured incredible performances by the man who I believe is the best actor of his generation. Yet although each film was noted and praised by critics for the most part, they came and went (all three were limited releases), quietly unnoticed by mass audiences.

The Illusionist had the unfortunate luck of earning a reputation as “that other magician movie.” Although Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige was released several month’s after The Illusionist opened in theaters, it still somehow managed to out-shine Neil Burger’s equally great film. It is a common occurrence in the movie world—whenever two movies that feature the same subject matter are released within the same year (or a year later as was the case with Infamous) one of them inevitably suffers.

If you’ve had the fortune of seeing both films however, then you know that they are completely different. The Prestige is action-packed and aims to thrill at every corner whereas The Illusionist allows its secrets to be revealed slowly, with patience and suspense. The Prestige is about the nature of competition and how far it can drive a man to go; The Illusionist is essentially a love story—a love story shrouded by magic and, well, illusions. Forcing yourself to choose between the two films is like choosing which band is better—the Beatles or Zeppelin. Stop comparing and rejoice at the wealth of your options; after all, it isn’t every year that two really great films about the complexity of magic grace the multiplex.

Lily Percy - Editor

BOOKS:

Dillinger in Hollywood: New and Selected Short Stories by John Sayles

Before John Sayles was known for writing and directing movies such as Eight Men Out, Passion Fish and Lone Star, he was a recipient of the O. Henry Award for Fiction. Dillinger in Hollywood is a collection of 10 short stories that represent nearly 25 years of fiction penned by Sayles. Many of the stories were originally published in magazines such as “Premiere,” “Esquire” and “Rolling Stone,” and were compiled with new material for the book in 2004.

The stories in the book cover various subjects—from the wives and girlfriends of convicts on a bus to visit their incarcerated lovers to the locals who frequent a dive bar to a group of women who peel crawfish at a Louisiana restaurant and the residents of a tropical marina.

Two of my favorite stories in the collection are “Keeping Time” and “Treasure.” The first of these stories is about a drummer who has kicked around the music business for years and finds himself playing at a local bar in a band of considerably younger musicians with whom he shares very little. The excitement he once had hitting the skins is harder to come by these days, but he finds his passion again when he talks to the club’s janitor, learning he used to be a legendary blues guitarist. “Treasure” is an unobtrusive mystery about digging for riches on the Florida coast. Exploring a centuries old legend, two business partners set up an excavation site that crosses over generations in pursuit of a treasure that has yielded enough gold pieces to keep the dreamers searching.

Also included in the set is “Casa de los Babys,” which Sayles later adapted for film. It is the fascinating story of six women, each looking to have a child, who are convinced that they will be more successful in Mexico, where adopting a child will not prove as difficult as in the United States. Beneath the surface it is also a study of the politics of money and power between two nations on opposite sides of world stature.

The character Son Bishop narrates the first and last stories in the book. A former Hollywood stunt man, mostly in westerns, Bishop now works as a nurse in a retirement home for old movie technicians: stunt men, prop masters, camera operators, etc. The first short story is the titular “Dillinger in Hollywood,” wherein a former driver on the 20^th Century Fox lot claims to have actually been John Dillinger before he worked in Hollywood. The final story of the collection, “Above the Line,” depicts Bishop working in movies again after decades away. He is cast as the old cowboy in an artistic director’s western adaptation of “Death of a Salesman.”

The stories in Sayles’ book are much like the stories he chooses to tell on film. Often with the right combination of humor and drama, they are personal character-driven stories that reflect basic truths of humanity and reality. Sometimes topical, usually entertaining and always interesting, Dillinger in Hollywood is a great read.

David Sayre – Independent filmmaker/essayist

MUSIC:

Love - The Beatles

Love hopes you will enjoy its show. Released in November last year as the remixed and mashed-up compilation soundtrack for a spectacular Cirque du Soleil production of the same name, it samples 130 songs. Led by Beatles cornerstone Sir George Martin and his son, Giles, the musical directors spent two years working on the original master tapes of sessions to produce a 90-minute masterpiece. Straying from the traditional retrospective record of “best-ofs,” 26 tracks feature hits intermingled with fragments of rough diamonds, keeping listeners enraptured in a magical mystery of aural acrobatics.

A remarkably sharp sound is the result of the spiritually collaborative nature of the disc. The idea of teaming up with Cirque du Soleil grew from a friendship between George Harrison and Cirque’s guiding founder, Guy Laliberté, before Harrison’s death in 2001. Part-chronological, part-fantasy, the journey travels through the lives of the Fab Four. Laliberté believes that “Inside every adult there’s still a child that lingers. I think we tend to forget we were children before. We’re happiness merchants—giving people the opportunity to dream like children.”

The idea was then pursued by Harrison’s widow and received the go-ahead from Apple Corps Ltd., where she, along with Yoko, Paul and Ringo, became closely dedicated to the project. Joyfully finding your favorites floating in fresh dimensions awakens the group’s classic songs with musical integrity. Love showcases the dramatic undertaking of a revered collection ready to meet the world’s listeners on new terms and take them home. But first, a ride on the trapeze, please!

Jehan Mondal – Staff Music Critic

Babel - Music from and inspired by the Motion Picture (2006)

A soundtrack, a film score, music to a film, music from a film, anyway you write it, a soundtrack holds as much significance as the script, the actors or the cinematography. Unfortunately, this art form is just as complex for composers as it is for directors. The end result is a very short list of capable artists that have mastered the discipline. A director with vision and love for music is needed to give the soundtrack a place in the film; a composer with the same vision and the love for film is needed to give the score life.

Among the list of directors with this love, passion and appreciation for music we find Alejandro Gonzáles Iñárritu. Few people are aware that he composed the music for six Mexican films before becoming a feature film director. It’s thanks to this understanding of the musical process that he is able to orchestrate and collaborate with the gifted musician that for years has helped to realize his vision, Gustavo Santaolalla. I still remember the day that I bought the Amores Perros soundtrack, in what used to be the Esperanto Music Store on Miami’s famed Lincoln Road. The soundtrack was incredible, a mix of Gustavo Santaolalla’s hypnotic score along with a collection of hit songs from the top artists in Latin music. It’s that same formula that keeps Alejandro Gonzáles Iñárritu’s movie soundtracks innovative and enjoyable.

The director’s latest film Babel uses music as effectively as his previous films, reuniting him with Gustavo Santaolalla and taking us on a journey through Mexico, the U.S., the Middle East and Japan. Fresh off of the success of Brokeback Mountain, Gustavo Santaolalla brings his signature style, along with a collection of new instruments and provocative compositions, to the film’s soundtrack. The double album has over 36 tracks that will satisfy the music lover in all of us—with eardrum-pleasing songs like World Citizen’s “I won’t be disappointed;” a great new remix of Earth Wind & Fire’s  “September;” Gustavo Santaolalla’s brilliant theme “Deportation/Iguazu; Nortec Collective’s “Babel;” and Ryuichi Sakamoto’s hauntingly beautiful unofficial theme “Bibo no Aozora.”

Take my advice and pick up a copy of the Babel soundtrack, and if you happen to have some extra cash leftover, treat yourself to both the Amores Perros and 21 Grams soundtracks, music education Latin-style. It only seems fitting to end my review of the Babel soundtrack with a few words from soon-to-be-Oscar-winning director Alejandro Gonzáles Iñárritu. “For me, Babel is a simple testimony of my life experience, of my virtues and endless limitations…an extension of myself. I only hope that when you listen to these CDs, that combine the songs of this great internal and external journey, that you can also feel the distant winds and the planet caressing your skin as it spins around.”

Juan Marcos Percy – Importer/Exporter

Duets: An American Classic - Tony Bennett

Anthony Dominick Benedetto a.k.a. Tony Bennett makes eighty the new forty. Recently turning this lovely number, there’s no stopping this man. Produced by his manager and son Danny, Duets is a celebratory album of standards featuring an accomplished, diverse circle of friends to share Tony’s legendary interpretation and vocal sincerity. Only a talented life well-lived can lend itself to standouts: “The Good Life” with Billy Joel; “For Once in My Life” with Stevie Wonder; “Because of You” with k.d. lang; and “The Best is Yet to Come” with Diana Krall. “Just in Time” pairs Tony with Michael Bublé and is a sheer delight. This record is a set of Tony’s homemade greeting cards (he’s a talented painter, might I add) sent straight to fans spanning from Streisand, Elvis Costello, Juanes and John Legend.

Bennett’s gift lies in the honest, time-tested space he carries in our often chaotic musical present. Here’s a man who hasn’t changed himself or his style for anyone, serving as a teacher to artists and listeners keen on sustenance. His MTV Unplugged: Tony Bennett went platinum and publicly marked the dissolving of the generation gap, later garnering him the Grammy for Album of the Year at the tender age of 68. Bennett, however, received his greatest compliment from Frank Sinatra in 1965. In a Life magazine interview Sinatra stated, “For my money, Tony Bennett is the best singer in the business. He excites me when I watch him. He moves me. He’s the singer that gets across what the composer has in mind, and probably a little more.” A little more than four decades later, it’s still true.

Jehan Mondal – Staff Music Critic

SPOTLIGHT:

Robert Redford

1936 -

“I think risk-taking should not be viewed as something dangerous, it’s part of the beauty of art. But it has to be allowed, it has to be supported.”

- Robert Redford, on NPR’s “Morning Edition,” 2003

Robert Redford was born in Santa Monica, California on August 18, 1936. An underachiever in high school, Redford had a short-lived baseball scholarship at the University of Colorado. He also studied at the Pratt Institute of Art and spent time as a painter in Europe before finding his calling as an actor in New York at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

            Throughout the 1960s, Redford performed in several television shows, including three episodes of “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” and an episode of “The Twilight Zone.” During this period he also acted in several Broadway plays, the most notable being Neil Simon’s “Barefoot in the Park,” a role he would also play in the 1967 film version. Barefoot in the Park gave Redford a decent amount of recognition. His newfound, modest notoriety was helpful in leading George Roy Hill to cast the 32 year-old in a new revisionist western.

            Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) partnered Robert Redford with another talented, at the time more famous, actor named Paul Newman. The film is a textbook example of a “buddy picture” done right. Redford’s Sundance Kid is a charming, funny but moody bank robber who can’t swim, but can shoot with incredible speed and accuracy. What makes the movie as great as it is, is Redford and Newman’s ability to play off each other. To comeback at one another, quip for quip in a very witty, comedic western written by the legendary William Goldman.

            Redford parleyed his success into a phenomenally rewarding film career as an actor, director and champion of the independent and artistic film community. The 1970s firmly established Redford as an international superstar. In 1972, he made two films that were both crucial and poignant. In The Candidate, Redford plays Bill McKay, a man running for Senator, who has no chance of winning, so he outwardly speaks his mind with no concern for the consequences. However, when circumstances change, he becomes focused on winning votes and softens his public conviction to gain more supporters. It is a smart, honest look at the manipulation of political campaigns. Also that year, Redford starred in Sydney Pollack’s film Jeremiah Johnson. In post-civil war America, Johnson leaves society behind and chooses to live a simple life in the un-settled mountains of the west. A large part of the film was shot on a stretch of land that Redford owned near Park City, Utah.

            The following year, Redford teamed up again with Paul Newman for The Sting. Widely considered the best “con-artist film” of all-time, it is a delightfully funny and entertaining story of several con men coming together to get back at a gangster played by Robert Shaw. Newman and Redford, of course, pick up where they left off in their previous endeavor, by charming their way through clever banter and enjoyable plot twists.

            Redford would further explore his creative partnership with director Sydney Pollack for two of his most successful films. First was 1973’s The Way We Were. A wonderfully crafted story of two people (Redford and Barbra Streisand), whose differences make their romance a hard road to travel. The story covers decades of their lives and is a bittersweet reminder of how challenging relationships can be, and how sometimes they simply cannot succeed. The next pairing of Redford and Pollack was for Three Days of the Condor (1975). Playing a CIA agent who is not active in the field, Redford inadvertently uncovers government secrets that lead to several killings. It is an intelligent spy story that flies in the face of cliché in a genre that often relies on Hollywood stylized action. Redford’s performance is beautifully understated and unglamorously realistic.

            Continuing in the path of thrilling but not sensationalized films, Redford produced and starred in the fact-based, journalistic suspense film All the President’s Men (1976). Playing Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward, opposite Dustin Hoffman’s Carl Bernstein, Redford breathes incredible life into the motion picture version of the real life investigation of the Watergate scandal. Redford plays Woodward with a no-nonsense attitude, interested only in the facts that will uncover the corruption of Nixon’s presidency. Originally a film that Redford would possibly direct, he instead turned those duties over to Alan J. Pakula but did work very closely on the script with William Goldman and oversaw the film’s production.

            Redford would finally step behind the camera in 1980 and make his directorial debut with Ordinary People. A brutally honest look at a family coping with a tragedy, it is really about the drifting apart of a husband and wife, and a mother and son who cannot communicate. Redford breaches the subject with great sensitivity and simple truth. His ability to tell a visual story was rewarded when Redford received the Best Director Oscar for his directorial debut.

“Everything’s personal, finally. You don’t commit that kind of time and passion unless it’s personal. And I believe that things do better when they’re made personal.”  - Robert Redford, on NPR’s “Morning Edition,” 2003

            In 1981, Robert Redford founded the Sundance Institute with the idea of providing creative, artistic and independent filmmakers a place to hone their craft and work together to create filmmaking opportunities. Within a few years Park City, Utah would become the home of the Sundance Film Festival, which helped to promote and exhibit diversity in film.

In 1984, Redford gave one of his finest performances in one of his most popular films, The Natural. Directed by Barry Levinson, The Natural told the story of a baseball player with exceptional abilities, who had made the wrong choices earlier in life. Redford plays Roy Hobbs, an almost mythological character, who suffers a tragedy that sidetracks his career and life for sixteen years. The film touches on themes that have often appealed to Redford, such as legends of mythology and folklore.

            For his second film as a director, Redford combined his interest in folklore with his passion for the environment in his adaptation of The Milagro Beanfield War (1988). Touching on the subjects of community, nature and government corruption, the movie is arguably Redford’s most underrated effort as a director.

            The next two films with Redford at the helm are generally considered his best: A River Runs Through It (1992) and Quiz Show (1994). Spectacularly filmed in the vast landscape of Montana, A River Runs Through It is an American story of two brothers, the separate paths they take in life, and man’s relationship with the world around him. Quiz Show, depicting the real life scandal of the game show “21,” is about a time in the United States where innocence could still be lost at the hands of a television fraud. Redford’s film is an intelligent exploration of how corruptible money and power can be, and how the unsuspecting and naïve are often the victims.

            1998’s The Horse Whisperer is a touching story of humanity that found Redford both in front of and behind the camera. He followed it up with another touching story of humanity that, once again, ventured into the world of mythology: The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000). Starring Matt Damon and Will Smith, the film uses the game of golf as a metaphor for life. Redford’s approach to the film is to brilliantly assimilate the literal with the romantic as Damon’s character tries to conquer his inner demons.

            Recent years have not included too many films wherein Redford has acted but the few that have are quite good. After a terrific performance in 2004’s The Clearing, Redford acted in Lasse Hallstrom’s An Unfinished Life (2005). Playing the embittered, mourning father of a dead son, Redford must come to terms with his own regret and accept that some things in this world happen for no reason and can not be changed.

            In a career that has spanned over forty years, included many films as an actor and director, and has been responsible for one of independent film’s greatest resources, Robert Redford has managed to find the delicate balance between Hollywood box-office star and imaginative cinema artist.

“Right now the business is probably more corporate than it’s ever been… it’s more market-driven. All the formulas for making films these days, in the mainstream, are formula driven for profit. Not that that’s bad, but it’s bad if that’s the only way that it’s thought of.” – Robert Redford, on NPR’s “Morning Edition,” 2003.

David Sayre – Independent filmmaker/essayist

Select filmography (as actor):

Barefoot in the Park (1967)

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

The Candidate (1972)

Jeremiah Johnson (1972)

The Way We Were (1973)

The Sting (1973)

The Great Gatsby (1974)

Three Days of the Condor (1975)

All The President’s Men (1976)

Brubaker (1980)

The Natural (1984)

Out of Africa (1985)

Sneakers (1992)

Indecent Proposal (1993)

The Horse Whisperer (1998)

Spy Game (2001)

The Clearing (2004)

An Unfinished Life (2005)

Filmography (as director):

Ordinary People (1980)

The Milagro Beanfield War (1988)

A River Runs Through It (1992)

Quiz Show (1994)

The Horse Whisperer (1998)

The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000)