Coming Soon to a Theatre Near You - February 2012

January is coming to a close, so I thought now would be as good a time as any to take a peek at the movies coming up over the course of the next month. February is generally a weak month for the movies, but the same can also be said of January, which gave us a pair of exceptional thrillers in the form of "Haywire" and "The Grey". Let's take a look.

"You're just a big... well, a big miracle!"

Feb. 3rd: This is a particularly interesting week, as it spotlights a number of somewhat smaller films which are hoping to sell people on intriguing concepts and then survive via good word-of-mouth. The most prominent release is "The Woman in Black," which offers Daniel Radcliffe his first prominent post-Harry Potter role. Even so, the film's inventive promotional campaign has been selling the scares rather than its well-known young actor. We also have "Chronicle," which brings a new spin to "found footage" filmmaking by spotlighting a group of teens who have developed superpowers. Superhero flicks and found footage flicks are both getting wearisome, but a combination of the two is an interesting idea. We'll see whether the public responds. Additionally, Ti West follows up his well-regarded flick "The House of the Devil" with another horror outing, "The Innkeepers." If it generates a similar response, West will have established himself as one of the genre's most prominent voices. Given that all three of the aforementioned pictures are on the dark side, we're also getting the family-friendly and amusingly-titled "Big Miracle" (which stars Drew Barrymore and is directed by the man who gave us "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants"), which is about friendly people saving friendly whales from unfriendly ice.

"Wait... they seriously made a sequel to Journey to the Center of the Earth!?"

Feb. 10th: A handful of the month's more high-profile movies arrive on this date, kicking off with the Denzel Washington/Ryan Reynolds thriller "Safe House" (which somehow isn't directed by Tony Scott). If there's one reliable fact in life, it's that Denzel Washington thrillers will always be reasonably entertaining, and a supporting cast which includes Brendan Gleeson, Vera Farmiga, Robert Patrick, Liam Cunningham and Sam Shepard certainly doesn't hurt this one's chances. On the flip side of things, Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams star in the somehow-not-written-by-Nicolas-Sparks romance "The Vow", which is one of the year's most hotly anticipated films for people who like that sort of thing. For the younger viewers, there's "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island", which pretty much wins the award for year's worst title. Making a sequel to the middling "Journey of the Center of the Earth" was a bad idea, and making one without Brendan Fraser is even worse. Still, The Rock seems content to poke fun at his image (whatever may be left of it) and Michael Caine turns up to enliven the proceedings. I've heard mixed things about Oren Moverman's "Rampart", but great things about Woody Harrelson's "Bad Lieutenant"-style performance in it. Harrelson was the highlight of Moverman's tender "The Messenger" a couple of years ago; word is that they fought rather bitterly during the making of this one. Oh, and "The Phantom Menace" is getting re-released in 3-D, because of course it is.

"I have bills to pay. I have bills to pay. I have bills to pay." 

Feb. 17th: I doubt that "Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance" will be good. However, I do know that it will feature Nicolas Cage urinating fire, so it can't be all bad. I think Ghost Rider's a terrific character, but the first film messed up in almost every way. Cage was actually solid, though, so maybe things worked out this time. Again, I kind of doubt it. It certainly looks more appealing than "This Means War", a romantic comedy with a crummy premise which looks like a painfully unfunny waste of Chris Pine, Tom Hardy and Reese Witherspoon. Finally, there's "The Secret World of Arietty", which is the latest Studio Ghibli offering (and is not directed by Mr. Miyazaki, sadly). I'm certainly going to check it out, but the trailer looks a little less flavorful than most outings from the studio.

"Look, all those dresses in my closet... honey, I can explain."

Feb. 24th: The director of "Role Models" offers up "Wanderlust", which stars Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston in a film which is being described as, "enthusiastically ribald." Okay. Tyler Perry offers up an earnest, comedy-free outing in the form of "Good Deeds" (in which Tyler Perry learns that he is out touch because he doesn't know how much a gallon of milk costs), and Amanda Seyfried stars in the dreary-looking and blandly-titled thriller "Gone" (hey there, Wes Bentley!). The curiosity is "Act of Valor", a Navy SEAL-themed action flick which stars actual Navy SEALs. Expect awkward line readings and exceptional stunt work.

Picks of the Month:

3. Chronicle (I guess)

Brought to you by the color gray.

2. The Woman in Black (I guess)

"You're taking this seriously, right?"

1. Safe House (I mean, it could be good)

"Yeah, I saw Green Lantern. It was... I mean, the special effects were pretty good."

Not really feeling confident about anything heading into the next month, but there are certainly some items with potential.

Anything which strikes your fancy among the flicks listed here?

Back at ya later

Laughing at Leprosy

I'm kind of looking forward to Aardman animation's forthcoming comedy "The Pirates! Band of Misfits" (though I prefer the original title: "The Pirates! - In an Adventure with Scientists"), as it looks like another reasonably entertaining outing from the folks who gave Wallace and Gromit to the world. When I saw the trailer for the first time, I chuckled at one of the throwaway gags it offered up. The pirate captain has boarded another ship in the hopes of stealing their gold.

"Afraid we don't have any gold old man, this is a leper boat," one of the men on the ship declares. Then the man's arm falls off.

It's a silly, disposable gag, but one which has suddenly stirred up a great deal of controversy. Groups like the Leprosy Relief Association Health in Action, The World Health Organization and others have protested the joke, which they claim pokes fun at the millions of people who have leprosy. From their point of view, "The Pirates!" is encouraging audiences to laugh at people who are in pain.

On one hand, it seems a little odd that "The Pirates!" should be a target of widespread criticism, as this particular joke pales in comparison to... well, quite a lot of jokes, really. Just watch a random episode of "Family Guy" or "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" or a Judd Apatow flick or a stand-up routine from any comic this side of Jeff Foxworthy and you're bound to find something vastly more offensive within a matter of minutes.  On the other hand, I realize that "The Pirates!" is perhaps placed under increased scrutiny because it's a children's movie, and children are a bit more susceptible to simply accepting jokes based on stereotypes rather than recognizing their intentional absurdity.

Obviously, I don't find real-life leprosy amusing in any way. I would never laugh at someone suffering from that disease. However, I really don't think "The Pirates!" is cruelly mocking such people, but rather assembling a quick, Pythonesque gag built on the handful of facts the average viewer knows about leprosy (lepers have historically lived in leper colonies, the disease is infectious and it does rather horrible things to your body). The joke is on the pirate captain, who has come searching for gold and has instead stumbled upon something which makes him intensely uncomfortable.

Anyway, all of the fuss made the folks at Aardman nervous, so they've removed the joke from the movie. End of controversy. I doubt this will do anything to damage the quality of the final product, and such a tiny compromise (precisely the sort of little change made by countless movies after early test screenings) doesn't affect my desire to see the film one way or another. Still, it does make me wonder why certain gags generate such controversy while other, more flagrantly rough jokes are left alone.

My suspicion: the mistake was including the joke in the theatrical trailer.  Ron Howard made the same mistake not long ago with the trailer for his movie "The Dilemma" by including an awkward bit of dialogue about electric cars being "gay" (it wasn't particularly funny, nor was it particularly offensive). If the joke had been included in the film but not in the trailer, I doubt anyone would have noticed or cared. However, because it was being used to promote the movie, various gay rights organizations protested (Howard relented by releasing a new trailer which didn't include the joke, but did keep the joke within the film itself - by the time the movie was actually released, no one really seemed interested anymore). The moral of the story: it's okay for Seth Rogen to tell Helen Keller jokes in a movie, as long as he doesn't tell them in the film's promotional materials. It's hardly a lesson worthy of Aesop, but it's a lesson nonetheless.

Back at ya later

Some Thoughts on This Year's Academy Award Nominees

Every year, I see the same comments made about the Academy Awards: The Oscars are a joke, someone or something was horrifically overlooked, undeserving rubbish was nominated, awards ceremonies are disgusting, the Oscars don't mean anything... you get the idea. There's certainly merit to those arguments, but I still anticipate checking out the nominations each year, because I still find the Oscars the most compelling, consistent and legitimate barometer of what the film industry really regards as its best work each year. Of course things I love were ignored, and of course things I dislike were nominated, but that's going to be the case anytime anyone other than myself chooses the best films of the year. How many times have we looked at someone's "best-of" list and thought, "Wow, that's a great list!" rather than "How on earth could they pick this over that?" And yet we enjoy best-of lists anyway, because they give us an insight into how another person/group/publication/organization thinks. Let's take a look at this year's nominees, category by category.

1. Best Picture: "The Artist," "The Descendants," "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close," "The Help," "Hugo," "Midnight in Paris," "Moneyball," "The Tree of Life," "War Horse."

- Interesting that we have nine nominees this year. Many analysts were predicting seven. The pleasant surprise is "The Tree of Life," which was ignored by quite a few of the other groups. The biggest surprise is "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close," which must surely be one of the most poorly-reviewed Best Picture nominees in history. Critical response has been mixed at best, with quite a few prominent critics labeling it one of the year's worst films. The others were more or less expected to get nods, though I suppose one could argue that "Midnight in Paris" and "War Horse" also qualify as surprises.

2. Actor: Demian Bichir, "A Better Life"; George Clooney, "The Descendants"; Jean Dujardin, "The Artist"; Gary Oldman, "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"; Brad Pitt, "Moneyball."

- Two enormous surprises here. The first is that Michael Fassbender wasn't nominated for his fine work in "Shame," an NC-17-rated film which might have proved a bit too uncomfortable for the traditionally conservative (in contrast to other groups, at least) Academy. The second is that the little-known Demian Bichir was nominated for the little-seen (and little-promoted) "A Better Life." I haven't seen the film, but I will say it's nice to know that Academy members are looking beyond the universally-accepted frontrunners for their nominees. The biggest heartbreak (though it was probably inevitable) is that Michael Shannon's unparalleled turn in "Take Shelter" wasn't nominated. The biggest relief is that Leonardo DiCaprio's underwhelming work in "J. Edgar" wasn't nominated.

3. Actress: Glenn Close, "Albert Nobbs"; Viola Davis, "The Help"; Rooney Mara, "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"; Meryl Streep, "The Iron Lady"; Michelle Williams, "My Week With Marilyn."

- Wow. This category is actually kind of weak this year, with two overpraised impersonations from Ms. Streep and Ms. Williams heading the list. So many strong performances (Elizabeth Olsen, Kirsten Dunst, Vera Farmiga, Jessica Chastain) ignored in favor of more traditional "Oscar bait."

4. Supporting Actor: Kenneth Branagh, "My Week With Marilyn"; Jonah Hill, "Moneyball"; Nick Nolte, "Warrior"; Christopher Plummer, "Beginners"; Max von Sydow, "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close."

- None of the nominees are particularly surprising, but I am surprised that one of them wasn't bumped in favor of Albert Brooks' work in "Drive." Personally, I'd flick Jonah Hill off the list. He was effective in "Moneyball," but it's hardly one of the year's best performances.

5. Supporting Actress: Berenice Bejo, "The Artist"; Jessica Chastain, "The Help"; Melissa McCarthy, "Bridesmaids"; Janet McTeer, "Albert Nobbs"; Octavia Spencer, "The Help."

- Another batch of unsurprising nominees, though it's interesting to see so many lighter performances nominated. McTeer could end up taking this simply on the basis of dramatic weight, but I'm guessing it's probably down to Spencer and McCarthy.

6. Directing: Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"; Alexander Payne, "The Descendants"; Martin Scorsese, "Hugo"; Woody Allen, "Midnight in Paris"; Terrence Malick, "The Tree of Life."

- It's generally accepted that the five films nominated in the "Best Director" category would be the five films chosen for Best Picture if we were still under the old system. If that's actually the case, then these are exceptionally surprising. It seems the Academy likes "The Tree of Life" even more than we might have initially suspected. No predictions just yet, other than that Woody probably won't attend the ceremony.

7. Foreign Language Film: "Bullhead," Belgium; "Footnote," Israel; "In Darkness," Poland; "Monsieur Lazhar," Canada; "A Separation," Iran.

- As usual, I'm afraid I haven't seen most of these... um, any of these, actually. "A Separation" continues to get a great deal of praise and is regarded as the frontrunner.

8. Adapted Screenplay: Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, "The Descendants"; John Logan, "Hugo"; George Clooney, Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon, "The Ides of March"; Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin and Stan Chervin, "Moneyball"; Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan, "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy."

- No surprises here.

9. Original Screenplay: Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"; Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig, "Bridesmaids"; J.C. Chandor, "Margin Call"; Woody Allen, "Midnight in Paris"; Asghar Farhadi, "A Separation."

- Many thought "Bridemaids" would snag a Best Picture nomination, but Original Screenplay will have to do. I'd say that's more than fair. The film is funny, but let's not pretend it's a whole lot more than that. "A Separation" is the rare foreign film to receive recognition in another category (making it basically a lock for the Best Foreign Film win). I'm happy to see newcomer J.C. Chandor get recognized for the overlooked "Margin Call," which you need to check out as soon as you get a chance.

10. Animated Feature Film: "A Cat in Paris"; "Chico & Rita"; "Kung Fu Panda 2"; "Puss in Boots"; "Rango."

- Far and away the most bewildering category this year. I haven't seen "A Cat in Paris" or "Chico & Rita," so I can't speak as to whether they're deserving, but I can guarantee you that "Kung Fu Panda 2" doesn't belong here. Also, where is "The Adventures of Tintin"? Or the lovely "Winnie the Pooh"? I just... I can't...

11. Art Direction: "The Artist," "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2," "Hugo," "Midnight in Paris," "War Horse."

- Yeah, basically.

12. Cinematography: "The Artist," "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," "Hugo," "The Tree of Life," "War Horse."

- I have to say, I'm glad that "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" was nominated in this category, because it's deserving. These are some terrific-looking movies, and I'd actually be okay with any of them winning. "The Tree of Life" ought to, and this is probably the category where it stands the best chance.

13. Sound Mixing: "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," "Hugo," "Moneyball," "Transformers: Dark of the Moon," "War Horse."

- Good choices. Glad to see someone noticed what strong sound work was done on "Moneyball."

14. Sound Editing: "Drive," "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," "Hugo," "Transformers: Dark of the Moon," "War Horse."

- More good choices.

15. Original Score: "The Adventures of Tintin," John Williams; "The Artist," Ludovic Bource; "Hugo," Howard Shore; "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy," Alberto Iglesias; "War Horse," John Williams.

- The biggest relief is that Trent Reznor's overpraised, distracting, poorly-written score for "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" didn't get nominated, as many were simply allowing Reznor to coast on his reputation rather than actually listening to his dull, meandering work. That said, John Williams really didn't need a nomination for "Tintin." It's a good score, but a nod for "War Horse" would have been sufficient. Surprising to see the low-key, jazzy Iglesias score nominated.

16. Original Song: "Man or Muppet" from "The Muppets," Bret McKenzie; "Real in Rio" from "Rio," Sergio Mendes, Carlinhos Brown and Siedah Garrett.

- Wow, only two nominees? Let me say this: these are both songs which actually play a key role in the movies they appear in, so I'm happy the Academy isn't just nominating some tacked-on end credits tunes. Well done. That said, the Muppets song is so much better than the Rio song. This isn't even a contest (unless Sergio Mendes generates a sentimental vote).

17. Costume: "Anonymous," "The Artist," "Hugo," "Jane Eyre," "W.E."

- Period movie = costume design nomination.

18. Documentary Feature: "Hell and Back Again," "If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front," "Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory," "Pina," "Undefeated."

- Haven't seen any of them, plan to check out most of them. As usual, some of this year's best documentaries weren't even eligible.

19. Documentary (short subject): "The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement," "God Is the Bigger Elvis," "Incident in New Baghdad," "Saving Face," "The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom."

- I should probably watch these.

20. Film Editing: "The Artist," "The Descendants," "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," "Hugo," "Moneyball."

- I'd like to see this one go to "The Artist" or "Hugo." I'd prefer "Drive" or "The Tree of Life," but hey, it is what it is.

21. Makeup: "Albert Nobbs," "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2," "The Iron Lady."

- Oh yeah, the Harry Potter series ended this year. Will the Academy pay homage to it with, um, a makeup award?

22. Animated Short Film: "Dimanche/Sunday," "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore," "La Luna," "A Morning Stroll," "Wild Life."

- I should probably watch these. I see that Pixar's "Toy Story" shorts aren't getting any love, which is probably for the best.

23. Live Action Short Film: "Pentecost," "Raju," "The Shore," "Time Freak," "Tuba Atlantic."

- I should probably watch these.

24. Visual Effects: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2," "Hugo," "Real Steel," "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," "Transformers: Dark of the Moon."

- Interesting category. Say what you will about "Dark of the Moon," it had some terrific visual effects work. Still, this prize will probably go to "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," thanks to all of those "Please vote for Andy Serkis" promos which reminded everyone that they needed to vote for the visual effects team.

An interesting batch of nominees this year. Certainly not the worst group of films the Academy has picked in recent years, but then 2011 had so many superb offerings. What do you think?

Back at ya later

Just Like Starting Over

It feels good to be blogging again.

I'm getting ahead of myself. I should begin at the beginning.

My name is Clark Provence... er, Clark Douglas. Whichever you prefer. It's complicated. That's a story for another day.

I began blogging on Xanga years ago, back in June of 2005. I began my Xanga blog as a way to promote my young radio program, The Sounds and Sights of Cinema. The emphasis was initially on movies and movie music, and it remained that way for quite some time. Eventually, I started blogging about other things from time to time: news items of interest, things which had been weighing on my mind, various anecdotes and so on. Even so, there were two things about the Xanga blog which bothered me.

First, it was clear that Xanga was all but dead. Only a couple of loyal friends read the site with any regularity (Gavin and David, your support is eternally appreciated), and there was little chance of attracting any new readers. Second, the blog had certainly betrayed its origins as a page to promote the radio show - a fact the large banner reading "The Sounds and Sights of Cinema!" reminded me of every day. I suppose I could have simply changed it, but for some silly reason I just couldn't convince myself to do that.

Then work started getting a little busier, the hits started disappearing and I stopped putting so much effort into keeping the blog updated. The pace of my posts slowed until they finally just stopped. The last time I updated the blog was in March of 2011. It was time for a change.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not expecting a flood of new readers. For all I know, the activity on this blog will be as minimal as it was on the previous one. Even so, starting over from scratch has renewed my enthusiasm for blogging. It's a chance to establish something new rather than an effort to revive something old. I'm excited about it.

"Geez, Clark, enough with the blogging about why you're blogging. What are you planning to do here, anyway?"

Fair enough. If you read the old blog, you can expect some similar topics to be covered here. Movies and other forms of entertainment will be covered frequently enough that it could technically be considered an entertainment blog, but I'm also leaving plenty of room to wander down other rabbit trails.

"Isn't that a little vague and self-indulgent?"

Sure, I suppose so. Blogs are generally self-indulgent, because they're a platform for people to write about the things that interest them. I'll be writing about the things that interest me, and I certainly can't promise that they'll always interest you. However, this isn't just going to be a free-flowing onslaught of everything which happens to cross my mind. I'll make an effort to keep my writing engaging and focused.

"So when are you actually going to write about something instead of just writing about writing about something?"

Very shortly. The Oscar nominations were announced this morning, so this afternoon I'll offer some thoughts on those. Sound good?

"Oscar nomination coverage? Who are you, Billy Bush?"

I mean, I hope it will be at least a little more substantial than...

"Pssshhh. This is boring. I'm out."

Wait, I can write about other stuff! Uh... politics? Homemade cookware? The meaning of life? Hello?

Ah, well. Anyway, I do hope some of you will stick around a while, check out a few posts and maybe consider commenting and contributing your own thoughts here and there. While I love writing, I'm not doing this just so I can admire my own wordsmithery. I'm ultimately hoping to engage in a conversation with you - whoever you are - and to get your thoughts on the assorted topics which come up. Sound good? Let's go.

Back at ya later