I think Manohla Dargis was the first

To suggest the idea of the brill Mike Leigh double feature of Naked and Happy-Go-Lucky.  They are opposite sides of the same coin, and also reflect a male (Naked:  bleak, violent, cynical, cerebral, fucked-up outlook) vs the female (Happy-Go-Lucky:  upbeat, optimistic, nurturing, empathetic, right brain outlook.)  I do not think Leigh wanted to make an "answer" film, per se, to Naked.  Leigh is one of the finest artists in cinema today and does not cater, ever, to public demand of that sort.  He is crazy dedicated to telling his stories, whatever they may be, exactly and perfectly in the manner he wants the story told.

Naked is a difficult film, for sure, plus it is long.  But I was so caught up in its Odyssean like sweep that I saw it at least four or five times in the theater when it was released, most of the time by myself.  (Hey, kids, I saw it at the old art-house in downtown Berkeley right by the campus. The theater does not exist anymore.) It is the performances in this film, notably David Thewlis, who won best actor at Cannes that year, that hook you in to Naked.  Thewlis delivers an absolutely stunning wracked version of Johnny that probably left him a husk of his normal self and messed him up personally for a short while.  But then we also get Lesley Sharp, Ewan Bremner, Katrin Cartlidge (RIP, sister.  Such a talent, and she died so young), Claire Skinner, Peter Wight, Gina McKee, etc, ... all of them expertly creating the universe that Thatcher's No Culture version of Britain will ultimately become.  Of course, the "sexy" part of Naked is Johnny's numerous monologues on the state of the universe, which are alternately despairing and hilarious.  There is certainly nothing sexy about the actual sex in the film, of which there is a fair amount.  That is brutal and joyless every single time.  Probably because of that, Naked is a Bridge Too Far for Renee.  She does not like Naked, and I do not think she has seen the film all the way through.

But, Happy-Go-Lucky, on the other hand, we saw in the theater together, and we own on dvd, and is one of our all-time favorite films.  "Enraha!" was/is an absolute secret language inside joke with us, still.  The "Johnny" character in Happy-Go-Lucky this time is, if not vanquished, at least abated, and done so with a firm yet empathetic touch of Poppy's hand.  Poppy is a single woman in her thirties who lives quite happily with her other single flatmate, both of them Primary School teachers.  Poppy, played by the striking lovely Sally Hawkins, is one of my ultimate heroes of cinema.  Whenever life is crushing me, and the dark cynical side of me bubbles towards the surface, I literally try to imagine how Poppy would handle the situation.  Ms Hawkins may never give a performance this good again in a motion picture.  It is her Party Piece, her Calling Card, just as David Thewlis has never done anything nearly as good as Johnny in Naked, either.  The entire community of Happy-Go-Lucky inhabit the opposite universe as those of Naked.  They are a community that is always looking to work together, without passing judgement, to make the world a better place. Plus, the sex scene in Happy-Go-Lucky is sweet, touching, playful and lovely.  It is a profound, joyful, exquisite work of cinema art that Renee and I (and many others) will always treasure.

By the way, one of my two favorite DPs shot both of these films, in completely different styles and palettes, Dick Pope.  Stellar work.

So, I would watch Naked first, I think.  End on a high note, right?

(Have fun, Justin.)

And, please please please, could we finally get a US dvd/blu-ray release of Mike Leigh's Life Is Sweet, already? Jeez, ...

All my love,
Poppy

I am not even interested (UGH! Update!)

In seeing the film, Young Adult.

There are many many reasons for this.

Let us spell them out, shall we:

I do not particularly like Charlize Theron.  I do not like Diablo Cody.  I did not like Juno -- it was facile and crass.  I did not like Up in the Air -- it was facile and sentimental.  I still have not seen Thank You for Smoking, and that is alright by me.

I remember the ads for Juno upon its release.  They made a big deal about how similar it was to Little Miss Sunshine, probably some of the same producers were involved.

Little Miss Sunshine was a true black comedy.  Black as tar, as my friend Nick C says.  They stole a corpse and stuffed it in the back of a VW van!

Young Adult will not end, or even contain, anything that twisted, or profane, or mean as that.

(And, note to Hollywood:  Please fucking stop using Bowie's brill Queen Bitch for your trailers.  Wes Anderson kicked your ass on this one.  Give him his due and move on.)

I am saying it here now, and loudly:  Jason Reitman is a safe, sentimental, backlash film maker, who should be saving his breath for working in a time like ours.

Hell, even the goody-goody, dopey reactionary Capra at least made you feel something, watching his corny films.

You want comedy, with great performers, go see Polanski's Carnage, instead.

As for Reitman's slice of burnt apple pie, this reviewer will pass.



AH




UPDATE, 12/9/11:  
Ugh, apparently the "theme" song for Young Adult is Teenage Fanclub's The Concept, one of my all-time fave tracks.  It is similar to how I felt when I heard all of my favorite Supertramp songs in Magnolia.

A.O. Scott and Mick LaSalle leeerved Young Adult, by the way.

In other movie news, Manohla Dargis has a splendidly written review of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy today on the NYT Arts & Leisure cover page.  Now, there's another movie I would rather see than Young Adult.  Benedict Cumberbatch gets second billing! What a coup!

Well, Big Jimbo

Finally gets pardoned.  (I guess I should I should tread carefully here cuz some of my friends love Jimbo so) but my love, adoration, and respect for Morrison melted away many many years ago now.  I know I know, I was not there (well, I was but I was an infant) when he re-wrote the rock singer rule book and that may be why he means so little to me now.  I think the first album is still smashing, particularly Whisky Bar, Break On Through, Light My Fire, Crystal Ship but after that it is painfully obv to me that Morrison either started repeating himself and/or half-assing it lyrically for the entire rest of his career.  I think Manzarek & Kreiger were fabulous musicians, too, and that their talents were essentially wasted after the eponymous debut.

Jimbo gets a pass

You know what else is painfully obv to me after reading the NYT movie page last Friday? Manohla Dargis kicks A.O. Scott's ass left, right, & sideways every stinking week.  Maybe Ms Dargis did not want the top movie review job but she certainly deserves it.  Here are two examples each from just a couple of days ago, like I said:  Dargis reviews Vengeance & The Tourist.  Scott reviews The Fighter and And Everything Is Going Fine.  Dargis' reviews are fast, whip-smart, crackling quick reads that actually reflect, particularly Vengeance, the type of film she is reviewing.  Scott's reviews are plodding and dull that give off no light whatsoever of the fun and mystery of movies.  (Dargis did get scooped, though, by our own, SFChronicle reviewer, Mick LaSalle aboot The Tourist being a remake of a 2005 French film [but LaSalle is an absolute nut for French cinema, one of his best features.])

Here is a quote from her review of The Tourist:

"[Mr Depp] likes tunneling into his characters, preferably under a thick smear of makeup and flamboyant threads, which is why he's never made sense in mainstream romance.  There's no place for him to hide with Frank, so he stands around trying to look hapless as Ms Jolie grabs the lead.  There's definitely some amusement in watching her come to his rescue, a role reversal the movie only flirts with.  But oh how much more fun it would have been if Mr Depp had really played the girl, eyeliner and all."

Why can't I write like that? (Hopefully I will someday.)  That paragraph sizzles.  I would use the word flirt in everything if I could.  And flamboyant is great, almost an internal rhyme with tunneling.  Thick smear of makeup?!  And she is right, too, Depp should have played the girl.  That is a film I might think about seeing.  


Here is a quote from Scott's review of And Everything Is Going Fine:  

"What caused this gentle man, with two young sons (one of whom, Forrest, composed music for this film) and a place of honor in the imaginative life of New York and the rest of America, to end his life? There is no simple answer, of course, but someone might have turned an exploration of the question into a funny, illuminating and poignant piece of theater.  Or, failing that, a movie, which is what Mr Soderbergh has done."

Now that is more like the way I tend to write, sadly.  You lose the thread of this paragraph starting with the parenthetical.  And, like me, it has this detached, faux high-style air about it that smugly whispers from a pedestal (or soapbox.)  I understand he is writing about a suicide, tough sledding there, but all of his paragraphs are like this:  cold, detached, and literary, whereas Dargis gets in the sandbox and uses all the tools at her disposal to bring life to the films she reviews.

Here is Ms Dargis' review of Vengeance.  Here is Scott's of The Fighter.  Tell me what you think.

Radio-Coteau Sonoma Pinot Noir

The Radio-Coteau was a present from my Sweetie.  She got it at Paul Marcus.  I am not a big California Pinot guy.  I like a couple of Barnett Anderson Valley ones and some Carneros ones by Kent Rasmussen and Truchard but the Radio-Coteau was sooo lovely.  The fruit was in perfect balance, not overbearing at all.  The oak integrated after one glass and a couple of swirls.  It was not earthy or pine-y like some have described it as and it was not like a Burgundy but it was wonderful.  We had it with sausage raviolis and broccolini fried in pancetta with just the right amount of chili pepper flakes on top.  Wonderful.

Thanks, Sweetie.

Now it is off to the Red Zone to see if I can win the store NFL football pick-'em.  I was sooooo close last week.

Love you all, mwah!

mds

Looking For Eric

Is the best movie I've seen so far this year.  It's a Ken Loach film, & I've loved many of his films since I saw RiffRaff back in the early 90s.  I like Raining Stones, Ladybird, The Wind That Shakes the Barley, etc, ... a bunch of them.  Mick LaSalle's review talks a bit about how old & decrepit the actors look, about their awful English teeth.  Who cares? & besides, that's the way Ken Loach has been working his whole career.  Most of the time his best performers are the supporting cast, who are, more often than not, Northern (England) comedians.  Using "real" people in his movies is Loach's whole M.O.  & that's what troubles me about LaSalle's review.  It looks like LaSalle  is not familiar w/ Loach, who has made, say, (I'm guessing: two dozen films.)  & that's a shame because Loach is one of the best directors going & has been for a while.  


Anyhoo, LaSalle did like the film more than A.O. Scott did.  (You know, it really pisses me off that the NYT gave the front page movie review job to a movie auslander, which he was, instead of promoting Manohla Dargis, who is not only a better writer than Scott, but knows movies better & has better taste.  Ahem, IMO, ... )


ANYHOO, the "star" of the film is Eric Cantona, who also co-produced, lui-meme.  I was only v remotely familiar w/ Cantona before I saw the film.  I knew he was a star footballer for Man U back in the day, & that he was French.  But now that I've seen some goals & heard the witty Mancunian songs, & have seen the famous kung fu kick, & the resulting press conference, & seen the man, I have to tell you, that Cantona has most definitely entered the pantheon of Michael Spitler's heroes.  


I love that he was surly & enigmatic.  I love that he never got along w/ the French National Team, & that one time he called the French coach, "a bag of shit."  In fact, he still refuses to support the French National side & supports England instead! He is a v attractive Gaul, as well.  When Renee was watching she commented, "and he's French."  & his greatest hits (goals) for Man U are astonishing.  The English footie commentators loved to roll out the alliterations upon introducing him or marvelling  at his goals.  


LaSalle is right.  Cantona is a little stiff as an actor but he has an amazing presence on screen.  The movie is a neat little trick that Loach, the screenwriter, & Cantona have put together.  It's a modest jewel but still a jewel.


Despite it's modesty, the one thing Loach & the screenwriter have done that lifts the film from good to great status for me is keep the stakes high.  There are some dark, unsettling scenes & moments in this (legitimate) comedy.  But they are essential to the film as a whole, & to the fabulous, & hilarious ending.  


I'm going to revisit those older Loach films on NetFlix & I encourage everyone else to see Looking For Eric & his older films, too.