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For Your Queue: True Tales of Fascinating Women

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By Hope and George

 

We’ve got a couple wild documentaries For Your Queue this week..

If you don’t know much about Diana Vreeland, picture the possible female inspiration for famous beer pitchman The Most Interesting Man in the World. Vreeland’s answer to most every question would begin with “Good God!” before regaling all with stories of rhino hunting or the time she saw Hitler, and then letting loose with some unexpected exclamation.

Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel documents her globe-trotting childhood (“hideous..and maaahvelous!) and eventual career as the longtime fashion editor at Harper’s Bazaar, editor-in-chief at Vogue, and all-around influence on fashion and popular culture.

Co-directed by granddaughter-in-law Lisa Immordino Vreeland, Diana’s story is told through interviews, archival footage, and transcripts from a meeting she held with writer George Plimpton to discuss her memoirs. Together, they paint a completely entertaining picture of a strong woman who embraced independent thinking and lived a determined life of unapologetic originality.

Appreciation for the film may actually increase the less you know about Vreeland, as you giddily discover a true visionary. The Eye Has to Travel is a wonderful reminder of the vibrancy of her work, and her exuberant zest for life.

For an even wilder true life account, look into 2007’s Crazy Love, a tale of obsession, maiming, prison rot, and finally, marriage. Burt Pugach served 14 years in prison after hiring thugs to throw lye in the face of Linda Riss, the young woman who’d spurned his love after finding out he was married. They later married.

Wait, what?

This is not even the end of the story – more nuttiness follows. And it is so plainly stated that it feels inevitable, acceptable, and disturbing all at once. Burt Pugach (who passed away a few weeks ago) set out to ensure that no one else would ever possess his Linda, and he succeeded. Yet somehow these horrifying turns of event are made almost charming by her cantankerous

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For Your Queue: Rockwellpalooza!

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By Hope and George

 

Without giving up too much of the film Seven Psychopaths, available on DVD this week, let’s tick off the first few of those psychos: Sam Rockwell, Woody Harrelson, Christopher Walken, Tom Waits.

Yes, please.

The genius combination of title and cast aside, writer/director Martin McDonagh crafts a wild, unpredictable and brutally hilarious adventure. Colin Farrell’s Marty struggles to complete his new script. His weird but earnest buddy Billy (an absolutely glorious Sam Rockwell) wants to help. Whether or not this turns out to be a good idea is a bit of a toss-up, but Billy sure brings his shootin’ boots.

McDonagh’s greatest gift is the way he allows a spectacular Rockwell and the rest of these peculiar actors room to work. His film offers dark humor, fascinating unpredictability, and twisted fun. Plus Walken gets to say, “I would have made a great Pope.”

Of course, Rockwell has been great in underseen films for many years, including Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Snow Angels, and Choke. If you’re digging into the stacks for a Seven Psychopaths double bill, though, of particular interest may be 2009’s Moon, and it is almost a one-man Rockwell show.

The debut feature from director Duncan Jones (David Bowie’s son), Moon is the story of Sam Bell, the sole employee on a lunar energy base. There is no shortage of energy on future Earth, thanks to the harvesting of an abundant fuel source found on the moon. Sam, totally alone except for supercomputer GERTY, is nearing the end of his three-year contract overseeing the harvest, and is eager to get back to his wife and family. With two weeks to go, Sam is rendered unconscious in an accident, and things begin to unravel.

Even if you already know the story’s twist, Moon is worth checking out not only for Rockwell’s fantastic turn, but also for the skillful way Jones gives a nod to his influences (2001, etc.) yet is still able to carve out a unique sci-fi voice.

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For Your Queue: 5 star 3D Docs

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By Hope and George

 

As Werner Herzog reminded us with last year’s Cave of Forgotten Dreams, 3D has the power to redefine cinema in the hands of a truly inspired director. This time around Wim Wenders finds inspiration in iconic modern dancer/choreographer Pina Bausch. His transcendent documentary is Pina, available this week for your queue. Whether or not you have the wherewithal to see either filmmaker’s jump to the small screen in its 3D version, both are must see documentaries.

A spectacle from the word go, Pina surrounds you with the modern dance masterpieces of the deceased choreographer, cutting periodically to briefer pieces composed by Pina’s devoted dancers in honor of their departed maestro. Wenders’s camera takes you inside the dance, surrounding you in movements manifesting everything from whimsy to absurdity to joy to savage grace. His film is as adoring a tribute as you’ll find, but it also serves as a welcome initiation for many to the work of perhaps the greatest modern dance choreographer in history.

And what the heck, just make it a double feature with Herzog’s absolutely stunning look inside the Chauvet caves in France. Preserved with great care by the French government, the caves are home to the oldest pictorial art in the history of humankind.

Herzog and his film crew were granted a small window of unprecedented access to showcase the caves and their portal to a time roughly 30,000 years ago. The result almost defies description, as you not only witness art of an incredibly sophisticated nature, but hear intimate echoes of this ancient civilization.

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For Your Queue: a Hot Mess and a Friendly Killer

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By Hope and George

 

Available for rental, on demand and streaming this week is co-writer/director Lee Daniels’s hot, pulpy mess, The Paperboy.

It’s a swampy South Floriday summer in 1969 when Miami newsman Ward Janson (Matthew McConaughey) returns home to investigate the imprisonment of Mr. Hillary Van Wetter (a wildly miscast John Cusack). He’s been led to the story by Hillary’s penpal/fiancé Charlotte Bless (a fascinating Nicole Kidman), so he enlists the help of his younger brother Jack (Zac Effron), and digs in over the long, hot summer.

The Paperboy is a lurid celebration of tabloid trash. This crew of sleuths teems with sexual tensions of every sort – racially charged, homoerotic, sadomasochistic, Oedipal – you name it. There’s also some story or other, however loosely articulated, but the point is that these people are freaks and Daniels is ready to get freaky.

The film is fairly tasteless and sometimes needlessly shocking, but it is never less than fascinating, and sometimes that’s victory enough.

For a remarkably different, even charming, small town crime tale co-starring 2012’s hardest working actor McConaughey, slip Bernie into your queue.

Though McConaughey impresses with his supporting role as a small town Texas sheriff, Bernie is Jack Black’s show. From the opening scene, Black is mesmerizing in director Richard Linklater’s surprisingly sunny adaptation of a true crime story involving a local mortician (Black) charged with the murder of a wealthy widow (Shirley McLaine). Criminally underseen, Bernie is more than worth a look.

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So That Happened…Searching for Good CLit!

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By Hope Madden

 

My company recently wrapped up its national sales meeting, which reminded me of the best story ever about our sales meeting and the world’s sweetest person.

I had the amazing good fortune to work for the nicest lady on earth for the first ten or so years of my career in publishing. People in the office refer to her as Mrs. Claus. She is the dearest, kindest person I think I’ve ever met. She’s also pleasantly naïve. Take, for instance, that time she put together her presentation for our national sales meeting.

It was a few years back, and she was planning to present her children’s literature list to our sales reps, explaining what they were selling and the best way to sell it. She’d already left for the meeting. She left me a stack of her printed power points to peruse and copyedit, as necessary. I was to send my hand written corrections to her with another colleague, who’d be flying out the next day.

Yes, it makes no sense at all to hand write changes on print outs of power points. She has since adapted to the electronic age.

Her slogan for the presentation was: How do you find good children’s literature? But, she couldn’t get that to fit properly in the power point, so she abbreviated.

HOW DO YOU FIND GOOD CLIT?

Oh, my.

This was the theme of her presentation, to be given several times to several roomfuls of seasoned sales people, who, come to think of it, might actually perk up and start taking notes.

The slogan was followed by several bullet points for the balance of her speech:

HOW DO YOU FIND GOOD CLIT?

  • What is good CLit?
  • Who is looking for good CLit?
  • How do you sell good CLit?

Obviously, I found a handful of changes to make to the presentation.

Indeed, I felt a bit of urgency about the changes. Unfortunately, the colleague who was to hand-deliver the changes just in time for my boss to update her speech had decided to take an earlier flight.

I tried calling my boss at the hotel. No answer.

She didn’t yet have a cell phone.

I was desperate. Panicked, even. I couldn’t let this dear, wonderful woman present this particular speech in public, in front of all her colleagues.

Luckily for us all, I flipped out in my office, drawing the attention of another editor who had not yet left for the sales meeting. Thank God! This particular editor was less naïve and, honestly, less good natured than my boss. She absolutely relished the idea of breaking the news to her. And, of course, thereby saving the day.

Whew.

As I ran this blog past George, I admitted that I couldn’t quite find an ending.

He said it was OK, sometimes you just couldn’t find it.

I disagreed. How hard could it be? It just didn’t seem right to stop without finding it.

He seemed baffled by this idea and nodded off.

Sigh.

Outtakes, Slider

Outtakes: Oscar Thoughts

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By Hope and George

 

The Oscar nominations this morning celebrated some excellent, often overlooked films and performances from 2012. We are thrilled that The Master received three performance nods – Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, and the often unappreciated turn from Joaquin Phoenix. Hooray. Great, also, to see wee Quvenzhane Walls in the best actress category for her powerhouse performance in Beasts of the Southern Wild.

A few others were more predictable but nonetheless merited: Anne Hathaway (this year’s surest lock) for her turn in Les Miserables, Daniel Day-Lewis as Lincoln (second surest best).

Not all was well, however. Where is the love for Moonrise Kingdom? One measely nomination (best original screenplay)? Nothing for visionary director Wes Anderson, and no best picture nod. They only nominated 9 for best picture – it’s not like they would have bumped anybody to include this miraculous little film.

And while best actor was no doubt the most competitive race this year, it’s unbelievable that John Hawkes got no love for his beautiful performance in The Session.

Still, the most aggregious oversight was in leaving Ben Affleck out of the conversation for best director. Argo – an excellent film with several nominations, including best picture and best supporting actor (Alan Arkin) – was truly a feat in direction. With scores of speaking roles, a story that weaved from Capital Hill tension to Hollywood comedy to international intrigue, and a pace that kept you breathless, Argo announced Affleck as a director of vision and skill. Not that Oscar noticed.

Surely Ben could have bumped Ang Lee from the list. Or maybe that spot should have gone to Kathryn Bigelow, who found power through restraint in her riveting film Zero Dark Thirty.

And where is Tom Hooper (Les Miserables)? Surprise nominees Michael Haneke (Amour) and Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild) knocked some liklier candidates out of contention. But, to be fair, Haneke is a genius and every film he’s made deserves multiple viewings, and newcomer Zeitlin crafted perhaps the most wildly original film of  2012, so no grudges held.

Other random thoughts:

Really surprised that The Imposter didn’t make it in as a documentary nominee, but very glad that How to Survive a Plague is there and here’s hoping it wins.

The Original Song category should be interesting. Though the new Les Mis song “Suddenly” is a worthy addition to a movie getting tons of award season love, Adele’s “Skyfall” has a brilliant retro-Bond sound that made it a classic from the very first listen.

Speaking of Skyfall, it should give Life of Pi a little competition in the Best Cinematography category. While the look of Pi was simply incredible (and really, the best reason to see the film), the use of color and shadow in Skyfall was more subtle, but very impressive as well.