Jun 17, 2011
An earnest attempt by the talented Kevin Spacey to recreate the life and traumas of the singer Bobby Darin. Spacey actually sings the songs with good inflection in his voice, but (not surprisingly) sounding nothing like the real life crooner, who died in 1937, at the young age of 37. The movie seems to tell us more about its producer, director and writer (all Spacey) who admits to having a ten-year obsession with the singer. But truth is, the elaborate sets that jump from musical numbers and colorful costumes, to flashback of his childhood, feel more like a grand extravagant Broadway production of “All That Jazz”, than that of a motion picture. There is Spacey’s excessive need to take this man’s life very seriously, not to mention Spacey is much older than the singer whose career began in the 1950s. Kate Bosworth plays the quintessential dumb blonde, wife and actress, Sandra Dee, though the film mostly focuses on Darin’s estranged relationship with his devoted sister (Caroline Aaron) before taking a downward turn into his narcissistic issues (his baldness to alcohol abuse to his obsession with his rheumatic heart problem, since the age of 7). As his American Bandstand song sang out to thousands of screaming teen idols, this movie is most likely to “Splish Splash” its way mainly to video.
Jun 17, 2011
(documentary, not reviewed, rated R, 102 mins.) Opens March 17th
Produced by Brian Grazer and Ron Howard comes the story of Barry W. Blaustein, who uncovers the secret world of professional wrestling in this behind-the-scene mayhem-filled documentary: “I wanted the sport of wrestling to get some respect in spite of itself. I wanted to also make a film for people who don’t even care about wrestling that would keep them emotionally involved in these guys’ lives.” Featured ring showmen include Terry Funk, Mick “Mankind” Foley, Jake “Jake the Snake” Roberts and a motley collection of wrestling wannabes.
Jun 17, 2011
(rated R, 84 mins.) Not meant to be complicated, not meant to get all emotionally involved, a young wildlife photographer (David Wenham) and a dress maker (Susie Porter) end up in the sheets after a cocktail party in Australia. He’s leaving for his homeland of London in three days so what’s to worry? There’s no commitment here. Not. The story of a one-night stand that goes wrong for all the right reasons. We spend three long (did I stress long) days that translates into 84 minutes of screen time dissecting, understanding and watching two people have very intimate moments that we never care about from the get-go. Although David Wenham has a really nice butt on screen. That’s something to care about. What’s “Better Than Sex”? Watching the lights go up in the theatre.
Jun 17, 2011
(rated PG, 90mins.) The Mayflower Kennel Club Dog Show provides the backdrop for this ensemble comedy of dysfunctional humans that succeeds on its improv/ documentary style, certain to leave you rolling over like a dog in the theatre aisles. First there’s the Karma Sutra loving couple with a serious case of OCD who believes their dog “Beatrice” needs therapy after watching them have sex. Then there’s the man with literally two left feet who is married to the town tramp. Their terrier, ‘Winky” brings them closer to marital bliss. In addition, there’s the man from Carolina with the blood hound named “Hubert” who gives new meaning to the fact that pets resemble their owners. And, love the gay couple from SoHo with their tiny Shih Tzu named “Miss Agnes” who packs a wardrobe of six kimonos for 48 hours in Philadelphia. But it’s the plastic-surgery-laden-Ivana-Trump-gold-digging-look-alike from Philly who’s married to a catatonic 95 year old man who steals the movie with her lesbian dog trainer lover, with their champion poodle, “Rhapsody In White”. The story reunites director Christopher Guest “Waiting for Guffman” with his co-stars Fred Willard, Bob Bababan, Patrick Cranshaw, Lewis Arquette and Ed Begley Jr. No independent film would be a hit however without the indie queen herself, Parker Posey as the owner of Beatrice the Weimaraner. The story leaves you with a rationalization that dog lovers are their own mentally obsessed breed and that they, not the dogs, are in need of obedience school. Ruf!
Jun 17, 2011
Beowulf – the iconic writer/director Robert Zemeckis, who brought us “Forrest Gump” and “Back to the Future,” further develops the “motion capture” brand of computer animation that he first took a crack at in “The Polar Express.” It’s 507 A.D. in Denmark, where the people are driven by fatalism, endurance, and a belief in heroism. As in the long narrative epic you studied in high school English class, King Hrothgar (Anthony Hopkins) rules over a citizenry terrorized by the strangely sympathetic monster Grendl. When Hrothgar calls for a hero to save his town and his precious Mead Hall – a place where men cavort, drink and compare muscles – Beowulf (Ray Winstone) arrives and the action begins. The motion capture technique, in which the actors’ movement against a green screen is captured with electrodes and then turned into computer animation, looks even better in 3D, and so does Angelina Jolie as Grendl’s mother, totally naked and dipped in gold – the perfect boy-fantasy creature. The movie is about the mother-son relationship, about wanting to be loved no matter how hideous you might be, but it’s also more sexual than violent. This movie delivers everything that this year’s “300” only pretended to give us, with real thrills, real emotion, and real sensuality. Four tiaras
