Music Within – Recommended

Music Within (Directed by Steven Sawalich, Written by Bret McKinney &
Mark Andrew Olsen. Starring Ron Livingston, Michael Sheen, Melissa George, Hector Elizondo, Rebecca De Mornay and Clint Jung) Is a well-intentioned, if at times, heavy-handed, homage to people with disabilities. It follows the true-life story of Richard Pimental whose speeches in behalf of disabled people would later become the Americans With Disabilities Act. (He is played by Ron Livingston, one of Carrie’s boyfriends—Jack Berger from Sex and the City.) Richard grows up with a mentally disabled mother and a Chinese father who dies tragically. But Richard is blessed with amazing oratory skills. His ability to tell a compelling story is noticed by the head of a college debate team in Portland, Dr. Ben Padrow. (played with sharpness by the wonderful Mexican actor Hector Elizondo) But he thinks young Richard needs some real-life experiences under his belt before he can really be convincing. So what does the young fellow do? He enlists in the army during the Vietnam war! Can you see where this is going? He comes back injured, deaf with tinnitus to be exact.

In any case, Richard, astonishingly, learns to read lips in a short amount of time, (one of the flaws of the movie) and before you know it, he is all sharply dressed and working in insurance. In the meantime, he has made a bunch of friends, former Vietnam Vets who get drunk, smoke weed as they try to put their lives back together, still reliving the traumas of war in their heads.

Richard befriends Art, a man with cerebral palsy, foul-mouthed, full of heart and wickedly funny. He is played by Martin Sheen who gives an incredible performance. (You won’t recognize him. He also starred in the Queen) There are many points in the film where it could have been more developed and fleshed out but it gets a thumbs up from me because it lends credibility and visibility to a segment of the population that the majority of society refuse to acknowledge because it makes us uncomfortable. With that intention, I believe it is a movie worth viewing because it has both humor and heart. Go Check It Out!

49 Up – Thumbs Up!

This fascinating series of British documentaries chronicle fourteen children from the age of 7 up, starting in 1964. The film’s tag line is a famous quote from a Jesuit priest: “Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man.”

The original idea behind the first documentary was to show how social class in Britain largely determines an individual’s future. However, as the series progresses, this idea evolves into something much larger than a political rumination on class differences.

The kids were chosen by then researcher, Michael Apted, to represent a diverse range of social-economic classes and then see how their future lives would play out. The result is a intriguing look at how candid and bright-eyed kids are at 7 and how their human lives evolve, change, go through adolescence, young adulthood, marriage, career, divorce, disappointments and so on.

The first film was directed by Paul Almond and sponsored by Granada Television for a program called “World in Action.” Michael Apted took over as director in the follow-up films. Although he directed many award-winning feature films and other documentaries, this project is clearly dearest to his heart.

Not all 14 subjects in the original film agreed to be part of the subsequent sequels. The filmmakers that come to interview them every seven years are remarked by some to be “intrusive” and perhaps a reminder of dreams that perished or marriages that ended in divorce. But the ones that do continue in the series are reintroduced by a short, black and white flashback to the first initial interview in 7 Up and then are shown in color in the present day, responding to questions about their career, marriage, children (if they have any) and other life experiences common to all the participants.

My favorite subjects are Lynn, the librarian, and Neil, the one who goes through homelessness and mental instability and then becomes a local district councilor in northwestern England by the time of this film. Some of their British accents are hard to understand and Rita secretly wishes for English subtitles (!) like some films provide for certain regional English movies.

If you like documentary films with a unique twist, this one certainly has it. It isn’t often you have a documentary film that devotes such a span of time to its subjects. Michael Apted remarked that the film began as a political documentary but turned into a personal one, reflecting human nature and the nature of existence itself.

The fourteen subjects are Bruce Balden, Jackie Bassett, Symon Basterfield, Andrew Brackfield, John Brisby, Peter Davies, Susan Davis, Charles Furneaux, Nicholas Hitchon, Neil Hughes, Lynn Johnson, Paul Kligerman, Suzanne Lusk and Tony Walker. Here is a link to the PBS’s POV Web site which features more in-depth information on the film and filmmaker:

Harold and Kumar Escape from Guatananomo Bay

Harold and Kumar Escape from Gitmo picks up where the first Harold and Kumar left off, a few hours later. The movie opens to pulsating hip-hop soundtrack with our favorite buddy-buddy stoners, Harold (John Cho) and Kumar (Kal Penn) getting ready to go to Amsterdam. Harold is dreaming of his beloved fantasy girl Maria and Kumar can’t wait to have the great Dutch weed smoke-out. However, things don’t go so smoothly as planned. On the trans-Atlantic flight, a concerned passenger mistakes Kumar for a terrorist—he gets caught smoking a “smokeless bong” in the restroom. Kumar and Harold get thrown in the clink – at Gitmo Bay, Cuba. After a prisoner breakout, they hitch a ride to Miami with some friendly Cubans and track down a college friend in South Beach. Then then drive off to Texas to track down Kumar’s ex-girlfriend, Vanessa (Danneel Harris) who’s about to get married. Her fiancé has White House connections that could clear their names.

Writers/directors Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg upped the crude, vulgar, nudity and scatological humor to an unfortunate degree. The writing duo dropped the ball when it came time to do some interesting satire on racial profiling and the war on terror. Instead, they went for the easy, teenage laughs.

The soundtrack had a welcomed edge and cameo appearance by Neal Patrick Harris in the second half of the film almost saves the movie from banal absurdity but not quite.

Rita Reviews Milk

Rita has seen Milk. So what’s the verdict? Did Sean Penn deserve the Oscar? He certainly lends a delightful humanity to Harvey Milk. Harvey Milk was the first openly gay city supervisor for the city of San Francisco. Tragically, he assassinated while in office by Dan White, his former colleague and nemesis. The biopic charts Milk’s migration from New York to San Francisco with his lover, Cleve Jones (played by Emile Hirsch). They open a camera store in the Castro district that blossoms into a close-knit community and drop-in center for the wayward. Milk rallies the nascent gay community take back the streets from the bigots. In the process of his grass-roots organizing, he becomes politicized and decides to run for public office several times.

The film explores some of Milk’s closest relationships and how they suffered as a result of his political ambitions.

Although the setting and realism of the film was spot-on, it lacked a strong dramatic arc. It reminded me of a made-for-tv movie. The documentary, The Life and Time of Harvey Milk still wins hands-down for its gritty and unsentimental portrayal of a remarkable man. And yes, Sean Penn certainly deserved the Oscar. He is in almost every scene and he captures the magnetism and sensitivity of Milk. Josh Brolin is also very compelling as the cowardly assassin, Dan White.

Milk is an important film that introduces a new generation to a gay icon and hero.

Rita heartily recommends….The Visitor

The Visitor

(Directed and written by Thomas McCarthy, starring Richard Jenkins, Haaz Sleiman, Danai Jekesai Gurira, and Hiam Abbass)

Rita saw a heartwarming movie that might have slipped under the radar. It stars Richard Jenkins, best known as the father character from “Six Feet Under.” Jenkins plays a shut-down man; a professor going through the motions at his dead-end job at an undisclosed university. He life is irrevocably changed when he stumbles across two “visitors” living in his rent-stabilized apartment in Manhattan. Tarek and Zainab are a couple—she hails from Sengal and he’s from Syria—living illegally under his roof. The girlfriend sells jewelry around NYU and Tarek plays the African drums at a bar downtown and in Central Park. This picture is a love letter to New York City and to all the immigrants that make up her dazzling mosaic.

The human connection is simply magnificent. The story builds subtly…it creeps up on you and by the time the plot turns, you may find yourself very heavily invested in the lives of these characters. Tarek, the musician and Walter, the professor, establish a great rapport. It is amazing to watch how one person can bring life back to another human being. The movie emphasizes the importance of human connection above and beyond the indifference of bureaucracy in immigration policy. And let me just add that the very lovely actress, Hiam Abbass, was a wonder to watch as a gorgeous, midlife woman. Her eyes alone spoke volumes. You must see this sleeper to truly appreciate it.
Rita rather not spoil the rest of the story for you so do yourself a favor and queue it up on Netflix and be prepared to be thoroughly moved. See link below to listen to Terry Gross of WNYC’s “Fresh Air” interview with Jenkins.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=98261650&ft=1&f=13

Rita tepidly recommends…Across the Universe

You may recall Julie Taymor’s work from Frida and The Lion King. Ms. Taymor, known for her lavish set designs and innovative special effects is a visual wunderkind. Two of Rita’s favorite sequences in Frida, involves the horrific bus accident recreated by creepy puppet skeletons dancing across the screen and the operating table. There is also the first visit to America sequence where Diego and Frida become animated stop motion characters aboard an ocean liner. Diego Rivera even becomes a King Kong-like animated character scaling the skyscrapers. Julie Taymor excels at stylistic flourishes.

The same stunning visual images can also be seen in Across the Universe, a paean to the 60s and Beatles music sung by the main characters throughout the film. However, the narrative is very weak. The film is like a pot of mixed vegetables that well, just don’t taste very good after it’s done cooking. There’s Jude from London searching for his father at Princeton University who befriends college drop-out Max, and then becomes the boyfriend of Max’s sister, Lucy. The three take up housing with the colorful Janis Joplin clone Sadie, and her Jimi Hendrix doppelgänger boyfriend. Against this backdrop of 60s counter-culture, the Vietnam War, and the civil rights riots comes along the sing-a-long numbers of the Fab Four.

There is something a bit incongruous about the main song numbers and they tend to slow down the pace of the movie rather than advance the storyline. That said, Rita’s favorite number in the film was “I Want You So Baaaad.” This show stopping sequence brings an Uncle Sam recruitment poster to life as helpless Max is being shuffled through the draft board. This stunning number is highly creative, inventive, and really showcases Taymor’s expertise with film as a visual and special effects medium.
If you love singing along to the Beatles’ music catalogue, you might enjoy Across the Universe—just don’t expect much from the tepid plot.

Rita highly recommends…Auntie Mame.

Auntie Mame

Auntie Mame directed by Morton DaCosta. Starring: Rosalind Russell as Mame Dennis, Forrest Tucker as Beauregard Burnside, Coral Browne as Vera Charles, Jan Handzlik as the young Patrick Dennis, Joanna Barnes as Gloria Upson, Fred Clark as Dwight Babcock, and Roger Smith as the grown Patrick Dennis.
“Live! Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death!” Auntie Mame (Superbly portrayed by Rosalind Russell, reprises her successful Broadway role.) delivers this piece of advice with much aplomb to her mousy secretary, Agnes Gooch.(Marvelously played by Peggy Cass) Mame glides through the movie with permanent smile on her face, gesticulating fancifully whenever given the chance. She lives larger than life and encourages everyone around her to do the same.

The film opens with 10-year-old Patrick Denis, a recently orphaned boy being unceremoniously dumped into his Auntie Mame’s lavish lifestyle during a swinging party. Even though little Patrick is a bit of a prig, his Auntie Mame takes an instantly liking to him and assumes parenting with the gusto that she brings to all that crosses her path.

In the opening partying scene done in one long take, Auntie Mame flits about the party, introducing her young nephew to indifferent artists, socialites, pretentious academic bores, and the unconventional riff-raff. There is even a gaggle of masculine bulldaggers gathered together on the balcony in the background!

The plot revolves around Auntie Mame’s trying to give her nephew a broad and unconventional upbringing while her nemesis, Mr. Babcock, Patrick’s trustee, tries to do the opposite, and almost succeeds.

Auntie Mame is one of the last of the great witty and urbane liberal New Yorkers. Although it is never fully explained how a former actress can afford a posh Manhattan duplex on Beekman Place (during the start of the Great Depression no less) the movie spans nine years and follows Mame around the world on her wacky escapades. The cleverly written zingers and amusing pratfalls that befall Auntie Mame make her character appealing and touching. Rosalind Russell was truly a versatile female comedienne, able to deliver tongue-tripping dialogue rapidly while being able to execute physical comedy expertly.

The movie runs long, but the sharp dialogue and slapstick scenes should keep the viewer’s interest. If you enjoy an upbeat film, Auntie Mame is a great rental choice.

Rita Recommends…You Don’t Mess with the Zohan (2008)

You Don’t Mess with the Zohan (2008) starring Adam Sandler, Rob Schnedier, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Nick Swardson, John Turturro, Mariah Carey, John McEnroe and Lanie Kazan.

Adam Sandler plays a uber-studly Israeli commando who just wants to go to Ameri-ca and make hair “silky smooth” like his idol, Paul Mitchell. This over-the-top, campy satire on Israeli-Palenstinian conflict does thread on thin ice at times, with its ultra-crude, tasteless, and adolescent boy humor – but what did you expect from Sandler, Judd Apatow and Robert Smigel?

Sandler’s buff appearance seems digitally enhanced in the film while someone in wardrobe must have stuffed his crotch with extra large tube socks!

Zohan, in the opening scenes, is shown dancing with Isareli beauties on the beaches of Tel Aviv as well as displaying mighty feats of strength. But alas, poor Zohan becomes weary of his day job as a top-gun commando so he fakes his own death against his arch-nemesis, The Phantom (John Turturro) and stows away with two dogs on a plane to New York. He takes their names, Coco and Scrappy, and begins a new life for himself in what looks like Atlantic Avenue in downtown Brooklyn. After a humiliating interview at the Paul Mitchell hair salon on Fifth Avenue, Zohan finds his first job in Brooklyn as a floor sweeper for the sexy Dalia, a Palestinian owner of Rafaela’s beauty salon. (Emmanuelle Chriqui)

Many crude jokes abound about Zohan’s sexual prowress—he starts by servicing the mother of the cyclist he defended on the street, and then he shags the little old Jewish ladies who start popping up at Rafaela’s beauty salon for his 80s inspired cuts and the biss-boom-bah in the back office. Soon, there is a line down the block for Zohan’s unique (ahem) skills, until a Palestinian cab driver (Rob Schneider) recognizes him, then the jig is up. Zohan must face his past when a trio of Palestinians led by the irate cabbie try to bomb the salon with Neosporin. Uh, huh.

This hilarious, over-the-top comedy will surely offend some movie-goers of more delicate sensibilities but this reviewer, found it so silly and daring to take on such an unfunny subject as the on-going Middle Eastern conflict. I had to admit, it made me laugh out loud in more than one occasion although some of the more ethnic-poking jokes did go over my head. LOVED the parade of celebrity cameos, especially that of Mariah Carey and John McEnroe.
Don’t Mess with the Zohan is a silly, escapist fare for the summer.
Click on http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/youdontmesswiththezohan/site/index.html for more zaniness from the filmmakers.

Rita recommends Elizabeth but not, Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Elizabeth (1998) and Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) are both directed by Shekhar Kapur. I had seen Elizabeth almost 10 years ago and remembered liking it and Cate Blanchett, who is absolutely luminous as Queen Elizabeth, the so-called Virgin Queen. To refresh my memory, I watched it again and also saw its sequel, Elizabeth: The Golden Age. I prefer Elizabeth to the one made last year. Both films are a feast for the eyes, the set design—stunning, the costumes—stellar, and the acting by Blanchett—riveting. That said, something was sorely lacking in Golden Age. Visually, it is as captivating as the first Elizabeth, but something is missing. Perhaps the intrigue
wasn’t as compelling as the first. Some of the lines in Golden Age are just plain silly. Whereas, in the first Elizabeth, the queen-to-be is unsure of herself and has to navigate a battlefield of political assassins in her path to ascend the throne. In part 2, Spain, as her primary enemy, just does not seem so much a threat as a nuisance. The plot meanders and after awhile, her love interest, Sir Walter Raleigh, played by Clive Owens, was annoying and burdensome. The scenes between Queen Elizabeth and her main lady-in-waiting (Samantha Morton) were much more playful and sensual but I may be a bit biased in that department! Go see for yourself.

Rita Recommends… three by George Clooney

If you are one of the many fans who swoon at the sight of George Clooney, there are plenty of flicks to get your just delights such as Michael Clayton (2007) and Oh Brother, Where Are Thou? (2000) You can also see his smart side in his directorial debut, Goodnight and Good Luck. (2005) Let’s start with Michael Clayton, George is looking a little grizzled and haggard here. That’s because he’s burnt out from being the “fixer” for his law firm while coming to the assistance of his colleague, Arthur who has a nervous breakdown. Plus, he needs to keep the loan sharks are bay to pay off his brother’s debt. The film also stars academy award winner, Tilda Swinton, as the corrupt corporate counsel, Karen Crower. This is a solid, entertaining escapade that will keep you guessing until the ending credits.

Oh Brother, Where Are Thou? is a zany, steeped in sepia film by the Coen Brothers, one of the few movies of theirs that I can look out without averting my eyes. As usual, their film has spectacular visuals and catchy, folkloric southern songs that punctuate the film. Ever so loosely based on the Odyssey, (I should know, I had to read it in college.) our beloved George plays Everett Ulysses McGil. He is part of a chain-gang in 1930s Mississippi. He and his fellow inmates, Delmar and Pete (John Turturro and Tim Blake Nelson) escape incarceration and among other things, face a series of eccentric characters and a KKK lynch mob. (one of the more spectacular scenes in the film) This is a wonderfully quirky movie, especially notable for its music, its historical setting, and George is funny and handsome, looking very much like a classical Hollywood actor from the golden years of film.

Last but not least, there is the stark black and white film Good Night, and Good Luck in which George directed. In it, he pays tribute to Edward R. Murrow, considered to be one of the best TV journalists. Murrow (David Strathairn) faces down Senator McCarthy, a powerful and bullying man who engaged in a witch hunt of American citizens accused of being Communists. Murrow and his CBS team expose the lies of McCarthy and bring about an end to his fear tactics.